ROH on Sinclair - Episode 461 - 17th July 2020
This week we have a very special episode of ROH TV. On May 23rd talented young Joshi wrestler Hana Kimura took her own life, having been relentlessly targeted with sustained abusive comments on her social media channels, after appearing on a reality TV show. Her loss is unspeakably tragic, and her friends at Ring Of Honor have put together this episode as a celebration of her career and all-too-brief appearances in ROH. Stardom have also provided extensive footage and still-shots for this episode. Ian Riccaboni narrates, effectively marking his first 'new content' on ROH television since the Coronavirus shut-down in March.
Ian welcomes us to the show, accompanied by a beautiful montage of footage and stills showing Hana in and out of the ring. We then go to her ROH debut match...
A TV edit of Hana Kimura vs Sumie Sakai from ROH TV Episode 340 is shown
Cheeseburger puts over the Women Of Honor 8-woman match at Best In The World 2018, featuring a host of guests from Stardom including Hana. It really does still stand out as one of ROH's best women's matches of recent years. They show highlights of that match next.
Mandy Leon talks about her extended tour of Stardom in 2017, where she spent months training, working and living with Hana.
A TV edit of Hana Kimura/Kagetsu vs Mayu Iwatani/Jenny Rose from ROH TV Episode 358 is shown
Mandy and Sumie Sakai talk about the last time they saw Hana - at G1 Supercard in 2019. They both talk about how happy she was to get to wrestle in Madison Square Garden.
A TV edit of Hana Kimura/Sumie Sakai/Stella Grey vs Kagetsu/Hazuki/Jenny Rose from G1 Supercard is shown
Session Moth Martina says her first ever match in Japan was against Hana, who then welcomed her into Oedo Tai and helped her settle in Japan, aided by her ability to speak English confidently. Martina says she always took time to welcome and talk to all of the gaijin wrestlers who came through Stardom.
The episode ends with Burger, Sumie, Martina and Mandy all encouraging people to be kind
Tape Rating - N/A - One of the best episodes of ROH TV since the pandemic took them off the road and barred them from taping new content. Given the constraints of producing the episode during the pandemic, this was beautifully put together. Mandy and Martina's inputs were so heart-warming, and from an in-ring perspective any time Hana or any of the Stardom crew came to ROH they effortlessly lifted the standard of wrestling within the Women Of Honor division. All three matches we saw here were very good for the time they were given. If you've skipped most of these 'pandemic profile' episodes, this is one you'll definitely want to make time for.