McXal's Reviews

For the second time, the Women Of Honor division is taking over Ring Of Honor television for this episode. Way back in early February, in Nashville, they taped the first ever WOH TV episode – originally framed as a pilot for a standalone series, but eventually absorbed as a ‘special’ for the main ROH show. What become Episode #249 of the show saw some pretty forgettable stuff, but a memorable bout between the often-maligned Mandy Leon and the now-departed Hania The Huntress. Things picked up with the special Women Of Honor live event over the summer in this very same building, so it’s fitting they return for the second TV special. There are some bigger names on this show too, competing alongside the core roster names. I can’t recall seeing ODB since that first TV special, but she is back tonight in the main event trying to end Kelly Klein’s undefeated streak. Beneath that Jessicka Havok and Candice LeRae make their ROH TV debuts – against Mandy Leon and Deonna Purrazzo respectively. Commentary comes from Nigel McGuinness and Ian Riccaboni, who will start to grow increasingly (and deservingly) prominent on ROH programming as we roll into 2017 and Kevin Kelly starts to fade away. They are at the announce table in Baltimore, MD.

If this card were being ordered by talent then this would be the main event by a distance. Candice is the outsider, an internationally-respected, well-travelled, tough-as-nails veteran who pushed Kelly Klein to the limit in a hell of a match during her Women Of Honor debut. Deonna was there at the very start of this Women Of Honor ‘rebirth’ but has only recently solidified her spot on the core roster. She is still waiting for a break-out moment or match to really make people take notice of her technical proficiency.

We start at a methodical, mat-based pace which favours Purrazzo – who unsurprisingly works the arm with most holds since that will set up for her Armbar finish. Candice needs to quicken the pace, and she does so with a shotgun dropkick, followed by a tope suicida to the outside. She tries a rope-run lucha-inspired armdrag…only for Deonna to throw her down, jerking the arm over the top rope along the way. When we return from commercials Purrazzo has returned LeRae to the ring and is continuing to work her injured arm over. Candice goes for a desperate tackle in the corner…and succeeds only in ramming her injured arm against the turnbuckles. PK TO THE ARM gets 2! LeRae hits back with a double stomp across the back for 2. Purrazzo grabs the bad arm and uses it for momentum in a series of rolling suplexes. ROLLING BALL-PLEXES BY CANDICE! Russian legsweep by Purrazzo, into the Fujiwara Armbar! The bottom rope saves LeRae…but as she fires off kicks in Deonna’s direction the Virtuosa locks in the Armbar for a second time! LeRae taps at 07:58 (shown)

Rating - *** - If ROH were serious about the Women Of Honor division then they’d be giving Candice whatever money she wanted to sign with them. She brings legitimacy to the division, she’s an incredible babyface, a brilliant seller and as her two WOH matches thus far have proven, she’s downright outstanding at building up her opponent and making them look excellent. Kelly Klein’s best match (by far) was with Candice. Deonna now joins that club too. It is important to say that this was in no way a LeRae carry job – far from it, and even less so than the Klein match. Deonna was great here and really had people buying into her work as a technician capable of picking apart a limb. But the REASON Purrazzo was able to achieve such credibility for her work, where she hasn’t previously against some of the core members of the WOH roster is that LeRae is so good. This was a hell of a way to start, and if everyone else were capable of reaching this standard we’d be in for a hell of a night of women’s wrestling…

Putting it bluntly, I thought we’d already seen Veda’s last appearance in ROH, so I was delighted to see her crop up here. In a fun twist, she teams with Kennadi tonight and knowingly references how many partners she has tried to start teams with previously…but is confident that this is the duo that will stick. Brink was given a chance to shine at the recent Florida live shows, gaining back to back wins over Rachael Ellering and Amber Gallows – looking full of potential in the process. The team they stand across the ring with will be nothing if not unpredictable. The combination of the slight, plucky, seasoned veteran Sumie and the more sizeable, raw and hugely inexperienced rookie Faye Jackson is certainly a striking one. For reasons unexplained they also have Solo Darling with them…

Brink doesn’t want to start with someone of Jackson’s size and power, so leaves Veda to do the heavy-lifting for their team. Faye straight-up mauls Veda, sending her packing in short order. She then perches in the corner with her ample butt protruding so that Sakai can whip Kennadi face-first into it. Ace Crusher from Sumie to Brink, followed by a missile dropkick for 2. Scott helps her partner out by kicking Sumie in the head (out of the referee’s line of sight) to turn the match in their favour. It means we get more of Veda and Sumie really roughing each other up in a reprise of the terrific match they had last year in Lockport. Kennadi looks pissed off at Veda blind-tagging her out…so literally grabs her partner and starts using her as a weapon to beat Sakai down. Eventually Sumie escapes Kennadi’s clutches to tag Jackson back in. Apparently she has been drinking Solo Darling’s sugar drink whilst on the outside; flying in on a sugar rush to hit the Triple Spun Milkshake. A super-ugly belly to belly suplex puts Scott down, followed by the Chocolate Thunder for 2. Swinging fisherman suplex from Sakai to Kennadi! GERMAN SUPLEX from Veda to Sumie! Brink accidentally KO’s her own partner with an elbow, as Sumie hops to the top and cannonballs OFF FAYE’S SHOULDERS for 2! Veda and Sumie brawl outside…and inside the ring Brink puts Faye in the Anaconda Vice. Faye taps at 07:27

Rating - ** - There was a lot of poor work in this match, but some really enjoyable content too. Faye is clearly an enthusiastic worker and a fast learner, but she is no way capable of working matches like this on television yet and she should not have been put in this position. ROH has live events and YouTube matches to work out these kinks; watching her botch and flub almost everything she did was difficult and inexcusable. But, the rest of the performers were great to watch. Brink gets the win to continue her momentum from Florida, and it’s clear that ROH officials were pretty high on her before she opted to go to NXT as a referee. Veda and Sumie, the veterans of the match, largely stayed out of the spotlight to let the rising stars shine…but when they were involved they were as physical and explosive with each other as they were in that terrific singles match they had last year. I’m still at a loss to explain why ROH let Veda, who is and has been a terrific ambassador for the Women Of Honor (as well as a solid hand inside the ropes and a promising female commentary talent too), leave the company.

Before this one we get a sit-down interview with Mandy to talk about her history with Taeler Hendrix. She calls Hendrix dishonourable, and calls her out for sending Havok to fight her battles for her. Havok was brought to WOH by Taeler, and now looks to put Leon – for so long Taeler’s arch rival in this division – out of commission permanently.

It has to be said that with her coloured contact lenses, face make-up and crazy smile Jessicka looks very intimidating. Leon isn’t afraid and repeatedly charges at her opponent, even though Havok’s size enables her to floor the Exotic Goddess over and over. Wheelbarrow gourdbuster drops Leon on her face, and finally Leon stops being able to get up so quickly. She hops onto Havok’s back trying to choke her out…except Jessicka simply walks around the ring before battering her in the corner. Killer Combo nailed by the Killer Death Machine! Demon Drop nailed…but she pulls Leon’s shoulders up at 2 because she is on a mission from Taeler to permanently incapacitate Mandy. She grabs a steel chair, only for Mandy’s some-time partner Deonna Purrazzo to run in for a save! With Havok distracted, Mandy rolls her up for a three-count at 04:29 (shown).

Rating - * - I understood what they were going for here, and they smartly didn’t let it go too long. But I never felt particularly reeled in by the action. It was all a little sloppy, the drama was lacking, the finish was bogus…and the issue with having someone as good as Candice LeRae on earlier in the show is that it exposes just how wooden and devoid of charisma that Mandy Leon can be. I do appreciate that the Leon/Hendrix stuff is an attempt at a genuine storyline within the Women Of Honor division however. They make for natural enemies, and bringing Havok in as her enforcer is a fun way to utilise a new talent. But at some point the talking, storylines and characters need to stop…and when it comes down to it I’m not sure any of these ladies have the chops to carry a match. 

Havok mows down Leon and Purrazzo with chokeslams, leaving their broken bodies stacked up in the middle of the ring as the segment ends…

At this point Klein remains the undefeated focal point of the WOH division. She continues to steamroll all who cross her path…but she won’t have met anyone quite like her opponent this evening. ODB tends to appear every time the Women Of Honor gets one of these feature events/episodes, as she has experience working on TV and a nominal ‘name’ value. She has a reputation for being a tough, dirty, take-no-prisoners fighter so of course presents a formidable challenge to Kelly’s streak.

ODB isn’t remotely intimidated by Klein – getting in her face and actually shoving her around with ease during the early-going. Kelly retreats to the outside, which also favours ODB who loves a brawl on the floor. She out-guns Klein when it comes to strikes before smashing her into the ringpost and guardrail. Kelly has taken a real beating on the outside, so brings it back inside where she can work the mat and take ODB out of her element. A sliding DDT scrambles ODB’s brain, putting her on the back foot for the first time. The neck takes the bulk of the punishment as Klein looks to set up End Of The Match, with Kelly’s striking coming to the fore as much as her wrestling skill. ODB sends her back to the floor…but this time struggles to capitalise because she’s too injured. It does buy her some time to recover, which she duly uses and levels Klein again with a running tackle. Dirty Dozen nailed for 2. Klein German suplexes her on the neck again, quickly followed with another high impact northern lights variant. ODB is rattled…but somehow hits a punch-drunk Spear for 2! END OF THE MATCH! ODB fights, but collapses forcing the referee to stop it. Klein wins at 09:08 (shown)

Rating - *** - My hopes were rock bottom for this, but they produced something genuinely enjoyable. If she was booked every week ODB would really grate on me, but in small doses she is a solid hand who ‘gets’ her gimmick and what each performance requires from her. To that end, the story they worked here was really great. It flipped the script on most Klein matches as it had an opponent taking the fight to her for the majority of the match…and actually, Klein herself looked a lot better and more comfortable coming from behind and showcasing her craftsmanship as a wrestler – rather than the WOH Goldberg gimmick. She took a beating on the outside but survived, then plundered the neck in an effort to put the brakes on her wrecking ball of an opponent…and it worked (eventually). 

Tape Rating - ** - The first thing to say is that this was better than the first Women Of Honor TV special. It still wasn’t great, but that is largely unavoidable as there simply isn’t enough decent talent within the division. However, given what they have to work with this was enjoyable television – and certainly a more coherent top-to-bottom product than the first time they tried this. There were legitimate stories, relatable babyfaces, believable villains, rising stars, established names and crucially; a couple of decent matches. Purrazzo/LeRae and Klein/ODB were both very solid, with the latter really taking me by surprise as to how decent it was. 

5) Bobby Fish vs Adam Page (*** - Episode 269)

4) Kyle O’Reilly vs Silas Young (*** - Episode 270)

3) MCMG/Jay White/Lio Rush vs Briscoes/Jay Lethal/Silas Young (**** - Episode 272)

2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs The Addiction (**** - Episode 271)

1) Lio Rush vs Jonathan Gresham (**** - Episode 271)