Tonight at ROH Supercard history was made when the promotion crowned its first Women of Honor Champion.
Sumie Sakai defeated Tenille Dashwood to advance to the final matchup, with Kelly Klein winning her bout with Mayu Iwatani respectively.
The final match to crown a champion saw Sumie go after Kelly right before the bell even rang. She was fired up from earlier when Kelly attacked her during a photo op with the belt to celebrate how far the women have come.
Not wasting any time! Go @SumieSakai!
?? https://t.co/1g4FnQudUZ | https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg pic.twitter.com/3D7jOErTuo
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) April 8, 2018
They would both try to out maneuver the other, with the match spilling outside the ring when Kelly tried to cinch in her signature outside.
Suplex on the outside and @RealKellyKlein rolls through into the Dragon Sleeper.
?? https://t.co/1g4FnQudUZ | https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg pic.twitter.com/QamgdHDJXQ
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) April 8, 2018
Kelly would continue to dominate Sumie before Sumie came back with a few moves up her sleeve including a wicked brainbuster before an attempt at a moonsault. During the fight the rest of the locker room came ringside to cheer on their colleagues.
The match continued to go back and forth before Sumie planted a woozy Kelly with a DDT to become the first Women of Honor Champion!
.@Women_of_Honor has its first champion! Congratulations, @SumieSakai!
?? https://t.co/1g4FnQudUZ | https://t.co/2AEuPvrsmg pic.twitter.com/poTdaSRU1T
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) April 8, 2018
The FIRST ever @ringofhonor @Women_of_Honor Champion @SumieSakai!!! pic.twitter.com/wuO7qMsjyi
— Women of Honor (@Women_of_Honor) April 8, 2018
Thoughts: Well, this was unexpected. Truth be told my interest in WOH began once Tenille showed up on the scene. I thought her rise would mean she’d be showcased as the first champion but this, crowning Sumie is the right move.
Sumie is a legend in Japan and she’ll be able to usher in several great bouts before possibly passing the torch to Mayu, who is incredible, or even Tenille down the road.
Kelly is a mainstay and I’m sure she’ll be in line for the championship as well. Having Sumie end Kelly’s undefeated streak was the right call also. Sumie is the more experienced one in the ring and like I said, she deserves to begin this belt’s linage because of her impressive history. Sometimes the veteran winning is the best possible outcome and here it’s definitely the right decision.
Everything during this tourney really caught me off guard. Kudos to WOH’s booking being unpredictable and hopefully we’ll start to see more women’s matches on the main card.
Now I wait with bated breath to see if the Bullet Club will call Tenille.
Diva Dirt sends its congratulations to Sumie!
What do you think of this outcome? How would you have booked the tournament? Sound off in the comments below.
