Ring of Honor Review - August 2, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Miranda Alize def. Alex Gracia in a ROH Women's Championship Tournament Round 1 Match

I'm familiar with both of these women from the many appearances they've made on AEW programming over the last year. Gracia has also wrestled a few matches in the NWA recently. Both have potential, but Alize seems to be the more seasoned of the two and therefore was the right choice to advance. This was a decent match and I liked that they played off their friendship during their respective pre-match sit-down interviews.

Nicole Savoy def. Mazzerati in a ROH Women's Championship Tournament Round 1 Match

I haven't heard much about Mazzerati, but I remember Savoy from the many matches she's had in Ring of Honor, IMPACT and in AEW's Deadly Draw Tournament last summer. She was also in the Mae Young Classic years ago. I'm shocked she hasn't signed anywhere, so it was imperative she won here. This was a better bout than the opener with both women having good showings. I'd love for Savoy to win the whole thing, or at the very least make it to the finals.

Rok-C def. Sumie Sakai in a ROH Women's Championship Tournament Round 1 Match

It's a shame that ROH has basically had no women's division for the last two years because it's left Sakai with nothing to do. She was the first women's champ ROH had back in 2018 and is a great veteran to have on the roster. I believe I've seen Rok-C before and I thought she fared well against Sakai here in what was a nicely-paced, well-wrestled main event. They didn't get a ton of time, but they maximized their minutes. Rok-C getting the upset over Sakai was a shocker, but I see her losing in the next round to the winner of Mandy Leon vs. Quinn McKay.

Overall Show

Believe it or not, this was the first time that we've gotten women's wrestling prominently featured on ROH TV in almost two years since the departure of the last Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein. Needless to say, it was long overdue and I love the idea of holding a tournament to crown a new ROH Women's Champion by featuring so many women that are fresh faces to the ROH audience. This was a solid kickoff to the tourney with three quality matches. The pre-match video packages were very helpful as far as introducing the talent and giving viewers a reason to care about them.

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