After a few months of absence, women’s wrestling as made it’s return to Ring of Honor! This week’s match pitted former SHIMMER Champion Sara Del Rey against current SHIMMER Tag Team Champion Portia Perez. Watch below as these two SHIMMER mainstays bring in March with a bang:
Out first is Portia, who is playing the babyface role in this match. At first, the image of Portia slapping fives with the fans kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, she is one of the most hated heels in SHIMMER after all. Even though Del Rey is the bigger heel in this instance, I would have liked Perez to still keep her heel persona, if only to keep some consistency between SHIMMER and ROH.
Sara Del Rey hits the ring next accompanied by… um… well, I don’t really who he is to be honest. I’m sure his name was mentioned a time or two, but let’s be honest: We’re not watching this match for him, are we? The ladies adhere to ROH’s Code of Honor and shake hands, but as soon as the bell sounds Del Rey goes on the attack, forcing her smaller opponent into the corner and taking her to the mat with forearm strikes and a few stomps for good measure. Referee Bryce Remsburg tries to pull Del Rey off of the pint-sized Portia, but Sara is having none of that.
While Del Rey is busy with the ref, Portia takes the opportunity to roll Sara up with a schoolboy for a two count. Portia tries to get of the offensive but is laid out by another vicious forearm. Del Rey tries for a wheelbarrow but Perez reverses it for another near fall and pays for it with a kick to the head. Sara keeps on her opponent, pulling her up by the hair and tying her up in the ropes. Del Rey proceeds to level Portia with some nasty (in a good way) kicks to the chest folowed by a snap suplex for a two count.
Sara continues to bring the hurt to Portia, utilizing her trademark headbutts and hip attacks to wear Perez down. Del Rey is on fire until she misses a Capo Kick in the corner and Portia capitalizes with a few stiff punches and a impressive tilt-a-whirl into a tornado DDT. Portia hulks up and hits a low dropkick for a two count, but is stopped in her tracks by Del Rey, who takes her out with a very unique suplex for a near fall. Before Portia can regain her composure, Sara hits her Capo Kick followed by a piledriver for the win.
I have to admit this was an impressive showing for the Women of Honor in their first match of 2010. When I read this match on paper, I thought it would be a total squash match, but I was pleasantly surprised. Portia more than held her own, and managed to take the fall without coming off as weak, which would be not be good for a current champion. Another high point in this match was watching Sara Del Rey’s unique offense, her piledriver finisher in particular. I honestly cant remember the last time I’ve seen woman use a piledriver, Del Rey executed it perfectly and had me cringing on Portia’s behalf.
I find it amazing that ROH can put on a match of this caliber in six minutes, yet WWE and TNA can’t even come close for a PPV. Seriously, WWE and TNA should take note. This is how you you put on a women’s wrestling match. Hopefully this match wasn’t a one-hitter quitter and we’ll see more from the Women of Honor on a regular basis. Before this match, the last time they were featured on HD Net was in September of 2009, which is a crying shame. I could see this turning into a series of squash matches, culminating in Sara facing (and possibly losing to) an opponent of equal stature, but judging from past experience, I’m not holding my breath.
So, what did you guys think of the Women of Honor’s return to HD Net? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
PS: Make sure you follow Portia Perez (@pperezninja), Sara Del Rey (@SDRpyoo) and referee Bryce Remsburg (@dabryceisright) on Twitter!
