Ring of Honor Review - April 25, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kelly Klein def. Mayu Iwatani in an ROH Women of Honor Championship Tournament Semifinal MAtch

Iwatani had an amazing showing against Deonna Purrazzo in the quarterfinals, and while this was good on the whole (despite a few awkward moments), it wasn't remotely close to being on the same level. Iwatani mostly sold for Klein's offense, though the crowd came alive when Iwatani battled back toward the end. It made sense for Klein to advance given she's a permanent fixture in Ring of Honor's women's division and was undefeated at this point.

Sumie Sakai def. Tenille Dashwood in an ROH Women of Honor Championship Tournament Semifinal Match

I understood what they were going for here with Sakai portraying the seasoned veteran scratching and clawing for her final chance at super stardom, but the crowd was clearly into Dashwood much more than Sakai. This was a very well-wrestled match that featured nice drama and some cool spots, thus making the nearfalls more suspenseful. However, Sakai going over was the wrong call. It's possible Dashwood hasn't signed a full-time deal with the company yet and that's why they didn't want her winning the strap, but still.

Sumie Sakai def. Kelly Klein to Win the ROH Women of Honor Championship

(The following is from my ROH Supercard of Honor 2018 review...) ROH fans aren't used to sitting through multiple women's matches in one night, so I commend them for not disrespecting the ladies by chanting anything obscene or "Boring!" or whatever. That said, this was easily the weakest match on the show up to this point. It was far from terrible, but the fans in attendance were largely disinterested and the finish felt extremely anticlimactic, especially when you consider this marked Klein's first-ever loss in the handful of years she's been with the Women of Honor division.

Overall Show

This was just a lazy way to fill an hour of television. Although I didn't watch the Supercard of Honor pre-show matches when they originally aired, most people did, not to mention you already knew who was going to win each matchup. I enjoy it whenever ROH puts the spotlight on the women for a change, but this was rerun material and nothing new. Hopefully the company will do a better job of incorporating the ladies into their shows more seamlessly in the future now that they have their own title to fight for.