By Mark Rodriguez and Ninja Jupi
This week's Ring of Honor matches were the usual jobber fare, so we decided to check out the matches relating to Rampage, Collision and Battle of the Belts VII that aired Friday and Saturday. There will be a lot of Willow Nightgale, which is always good news for Jupi.
AEW Rampage- Taya Valkyrie VS Izzy McQueen
Taya pretty much squashed Izzy with two moves. Then the Outcasts, Saraya and Toni showed up to talk trash. Taya asks Toni if she should worry about her AEW Women's Title, to which the champ replies that she's beaten everyone. Taya reminds her that they haven't ever wrestled each other, and after some provoking, Toni agrees to put her title on the line against her at Battle of the Belts VII.
Mark's Thoughts- Not much to say. Whenever they say 'So-and-So will be in Action tonight' it means they'll face a real bottom of the barrel jobber not even worth naming, so I was expecting a squash, but like... not a super squash. Pretty much just set up for Battle of the Belts.
Jupi's Thoughts-
This was a squash match. I knew it would be, but not on this level. It was about five seconds, if that long. I HATE when talent (new or old) is wasted like this. I GUESS the only good thing to come out of this was Toni Storm coming out with Saraya and Taya challenging her to a match for the AEW Women’s World Championship. It’s fine to set things up, but it’s a waste of a spot on a card. I have issues with the women’s division as far as story investment goes and this didn’t help it. That aside, as workers both are good in the ring so here’s hoping for a good match between them.
AEW Rampage- Athena VS Willow Nightingale- Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament SemiFinal
Both women start to grapple and Willow easily tosses Athena aside. Athena surprises Willow with a move from her playbook and knocks her back with her version of The Pounce. Willow sends Athena flying with a Tijeras and then nails her with an elbow strike. Athena rolls out of the ring to make Willow chase her. As Willow gets back into the ring, Athena grabs and yanks her leg over the ropes. Now with a target, Athena starts kicking at her bad leg. She then grabs Willow in a Snapmare and kicks her across the back.
Willow manages to land on Athena with a Senton. Athena then kicks her thigh, toppling her opponent. She then wraps Willow's leg and wraps it around the ropes, bringing the pain until the ref breaks it up. Willow misses an enzuigiri and Athena takes this chance to get her in a knee twisting ankle lock. Willow struggles to get to the ropes and Athena pulls her away from them.
Willow gets on her back and tries to kick Athena off her leg, but the RoH champ refuses to let go. After some struggle, Willow finally kicks her off. Willow manages to send Athena flying with The Pounce and then gets her in a Spine Buster. Willow goes for the Doctor Bomb but Athena grabs onto her leg and starts biting her. While the ref stops this, Athena goes for the roll up pin but can't keep Willow down. Athena lands a kick on her and then slams her down. She hits her with a lying elbow strike and tries another pin, but Willow still kicks out.
Both women start throwing chops at each other, ending with Athena throwing machine gun chops at her opponent. Willow grabs her and slam her but misses when she goes for the Senton. Athena goes for the Standing Moonsault but couldn't keep her down for the pin. Athena grabs her in a Crossface but Willoa fights her way out of it.
Willow manages to grab Athena for the Death Valley Driver but couldn't pin her. Athena runs in for a diving chop block to the knee, which topples Willow again. Athena picks her up for a slam but Willow slips from her grasp and manages to pin her down. Willow gets a three count and wins the match! She will challenging Ruby Soho (who recently defeated Skye Blue) for the finals at the Owen Hart Women's Cup Tournament!
Mark's Thoughts-
Pretty good match. Athena isn't putting her title on the line, so this was one she could afford to lose. I guess the rules were stricter here so Athena couldn't get away with her usual antics, but she was still able to injure one of Willow's legs and use that as an advantage. These two have fought each other before, so it was good to see them again. The finish was so quick I had to rewatch that twice to see exactly what happened. Good main event for Rampage and everybody loves Willow.
Jupi's Thoughts-
When I found out that these two would be going up against one another, you bet I was going to get invested in some way and I don’t watch Rampage much. This match definitely did not disappoint! I’m a fan of both, especially Willow. Too bad this was only for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament and not a title match on ROH where Athena has a 49-0 streak. For Athena, the stakes for this match wasn’t high regardless of the outcome. I still would like to see a Title vs Title match between these two someday.
The match went along as expected. Athena using those dirty tactics and Willow using her size and strength. At one point Athena kicked Willow in the thigh, who sold the pain well, and she stayed on it, like wrapping her leg on the rope and messing with her ankle. She even bit her leg! Come on Athena, how savage! lol. Given her leg issue, Willow couldn’t even do her cartwheel. One part that surprised me was Athena trying to pick up Willow…she got her up a little. Willow ended up winning the match and I was happy!
Both women grappled and countered each other moves until Willow managed to knock Ruby down with a running tackle. Willow manages to get Ruby in three suplexes in a row, the third one being a Fisherman Suplex which Ruby kicked out of. Ruby grabs Willow and slams her face into the turnbuckle. She then hangs Willow's head off the ropes and hits in the face with several knee strikes. Ruby gets Willow up against the ropes and drives her knee to the back of the head. Ruby grabs Willow into a straightjacket hold and tells her to submit. Willow refuses to give up and breaks out of it.
Willow tries to go for the Fireman Carry but Ruby slips out of her and slams her back against the mat. Ruby wraps one of Willow's arms around the ropes and pulls back. Ruby gets ready to do the Hip Attack, like her Outcast buddy Toni Storm would do, but Willow gets out of the way, leaving her to crash against the turnbuckle. Ruby grabs Willow, but Willow flips her over and knocks her down with the enzuigiri. Now pumped up, Willow knocks Ruby down with clotheslines and then starts hitting her with forearm strikes and chops.
Willow grabs Ruby in a Running Power Slam. She then hits her in the face and sets Ruby up onto her shoulders. Ruby reverses this into a pin but Willow kicks out. Willow hits her with the Spine Buster, but doesn't let go of Ruby's ankles. She turns around and gets her in a single leg Boston Crab. Ruby crawls over for the rope break.
After the rope break, Ruby grabs the spray can. Willow doesn't notice and grabs her, and Ruby messes up the ring apron. The ref goes to straighten out the ring apron and when she turns around, Ruby placed the spray can in Willow's hand making it look like she was cheating. Aubrey doesn't buy it and puts the spray can away. While she does this, Ruby pokes Willow in the eye and goes for the No Future kick. Willow somehow still kicks out.
Ruby grabs the spray can again and distracts the ref, telling her the top turnbuckle got loosened up. As Aubrey fixes it, Ruby tries to use the spray can on Willow but misses. Ruby runs in for a second attempt but Willow knocks both Ruby and the spray can into orbit with The Pounce. Willow grabs Ruby for a Power Bomb and pins her for the win. Willow Nightingale won the Owen Hart Women's Tournament!
Mark's Thoughts-
This was a fun match between the two. I'm surprised Ruby showed up alone, and that The Outcasts didn't run in sometime during the match. We got to see some good moves from both women, but the part that had me laughing was how that spray can was blasted into outer space after Willow tackled Ruby down. I wonder how far it flew since the camera didn't follow it.
While comparing last year's Owen Hart Tournament, it looks like we had like half the amount of competitors this year. Willow definitely did much better as she was taken down in the first round by Red Velvet, and won the whole thing this time as she defeated Nyla Rose and Athena to make it to the end. Too bad for Ruby Soho though. She's made it to the finals twice, the first time losing to Brit Baker and this time coming up short against Willow. Maybe she'll pull a Goku and win the third annual event?
Jupi's Thoughts-
Going into this match, I was obviously cheering for Willow. I was surprised that Ruby came out by herself, though. I was also wondering if Willow’s leg situation would come into play in some way since Ruby watched the match between Athena and Willow and how she kept working that left knee.
As always, Willow was over with the crowd and is over with this goofy ninja writing about matches in a blog. lol Ruby was trash-talking and making declarations over how she was going to win of course while being boo’d by the crowd. She pulled her hair, kept getting her in the corner, kicking her mid-section…I was on the edge of my seat though. I was like, “Come on Willow, get up! You can do it! Get out of that corner! Don’t let her pin you!” I did find myself holding my breath at times wondering what would happen. At one point, Willow had Ruby in a submission move but Ruby got to the ropes. She managed to grab a spray can though without the ref or Willow seeing. UGH!! Perfect for a heel, though but it was a little refreshing I’ll admit. Instead of spraying Willow, she put the can in her hand to make it look like she was going to use it…trying to set her up! Since that would be out of character for Willow, of COURSE, the ref didn’t buy it. Ruby did get a cheap shot in, though when the can was removed. Now when Willow sent Ruby flying after being pounced and then power-bombed for the win, I was happy!
This was an engaging match and fun! One thing I feel would’ve made it better was if the Outcasts HAD been there. I think it would’ve shown how strong Willow was if they would’ve been there attempting to cause trouble or been at ringside to try getting into her head. A couple of negatives off the top of my head is the turnbuckle thing and the knee thing. At one point, Ruby told the ref the turnbuckle was messed up so she went over to fix it, her back turned so of course Ruby got cheap hits in. I hate when stuff like that is so darn obvious! The knee thing should’ve played into this since Willow didn’t get a break really. The commentators said as much. Ruby should’ve taken advantage of that at some point….she is a heel after all. Her winning with that adversity would’ve made the win seem more rewarding IMO.
AEW Battle of the Belts XVII- Toni Storm VS Taya Valkyrie- AEW Women's Championship Match
As the bell rung, Toni runs into Taya with a forearm smash and kicks her up against the ropes. Taya fights back and gets Toni up against the ropes to hit her with a chop. Taya flies into Toni with the Running Knee Strikes and goes for the cover, but the champ kicks out and rolls out of the ring. As Toni tries to get back in, she grabs Taya and hits her with a jawbreaker against the ropes. Toni then starts pressing her foot up against Taya's face, until Taya is shoved out of the ring.
On the outside, Toni follows Taya and grabs her by the air, flinging her across the floor twice in a row. Toni turns to talk trash to some of the people in the crowd, who happen to be Taya's friends. The Wera Loca grabs Toni and flings across the floor this time. She gets Toni up against the ring apron and hits her with a chop. The crowd wants one more so Taya grabs Toni up against the barricade and hits her with another chop right in front of the fans.
As Taya gets back into the ring, Toni hits her with a Hip Attack, that knocks her tumbling back out onto the floor. Toni kicks her around and this time she gets her opponent up against the crowd and slaps her with a chop. Taking the action back into the ring, Toni grabs Taya and tosses her across the mat. Toni goes for a Snap Suplex and a cover, but Taya kicks out.
Toni grabs Taya into a hold, but Taya mostly lays limp. The Wera Loca starts to stand up to fight out of it but Toni slams her back against the mat does a flex pose. Toni gets Taya up against the ropes and presses her boot to the back of the head. As the ref breaks it up, Ruby takes a chance to land a cheap shot to the back of Taya's head. Toni goes for the pin but Taya kicks out.
Toni prepares for the Hip Attack but she misses and Taya clotheslines her. With Toni up against the ropes, Taya runs in with her own Hip Attack combining it with the Stink Face. Taya goes for the ropes but Toni hits her with a chop. Toni climbs onto the ropes too, but Taya slips out from under her and grabs her in a Power Bomb. She uses this as a pin but the champ is able to kick out.
Taya still held onto Toni's leg and started using a leglock on her. Toni started crawling backwards to get out of the leglock and shove Taya out of the ring. Once outside, Ruby goes in for a kick but Taya catches her foot and socks her in the face. Taya grabs Toni for the Road to Valhalla, but Toni manages to drop and roll, which shoves Taya towards the ropes near Ruby. Taya argues with Ruby and Toni walks up behind her. Toni grabs Taya on the shoulder but Taya turns around and hits her with a forearm.
Ruby takes this chance to get onto the ring apron and sock Taya across the face. Taya stumbles near Toni who grabs her and slams her with the Storm Zero. Taya is out for the three count and Toni Storm retains her AEW Women's Title.
Mark thoughts-
Pretty good match and Taya gave Toni a run for her money, even using some of her moves against her. Ruby got to vent her frustration after losing to Willow earlier that night. I didn't know what to expect, since you always hope there's at least one title change on Battle of the Belts. It might be too soon for Taya to have won the title, but it would have been a hell of surprise. Pretty awesome match, and Toni's reign of terror continues.
Jupi's Thoughts-
Going into this, I was wondering how Toni would cheat and if anyone would join her at ringside. Turned out Ruby did. I was also wondering how the story would progress if she lost. I just didn’t know what to expect aside from a good match. Toni with the heat and Taya being the Calgary native!
Toni and Taya started off on the same footing temporarily until they ended up outside of the ring. Toni tossed Taya and then started throwing insults to the nearby crowd, saying things like they “sucked”. Man, what a heel, but a good move, IMO! Good on Toni! As the match continued, Toni seemed to be overpowering Taya. So many hits and tosses! I was like, “Taya, come on! Get up! Wake up!” She seemed like a rag doll at one point with one of the holds Taya was in. Taya did eventually regain her composure and man did it look bad for Toni! She even managed to spear, clothesline, and power-bomb Toni, who of course managed to break out of the pins. I laughed when Taya used Toni’s hip attack on her, but then flinched and cringed when it evolved to a Rikishi Stinkface. In the end, due to a cheap shot from Ruby, Toni retained. No matter the country, Toni will always be champion according to Ruby.
This match had a lot of energy and did have actual unexpected situations occur throughout, like that forearm to Toni’s neck. I also expected Ruby to interfere more, but it was kept to a minimum. I now wonder where they’ll go from here and who will be worthy enough to challenge Toni next.
Mark's Overall thoughts-
This was an interesting trio of matches, and the Outcasts were a factor in most of them. We'll see how long the trio of Saraya, Ruby and Toni will last. It was great to see Willow win the Owen Hart Tournament, and for the fans watching on Saturday they got to see Collision and Battle of the Belts back to back. This was kind of a rare one-shot type of review though. We'll stick back to Ring of Honor whenever they have more than 2 matches an episode.
Jupi's Overall thoughts-
Watching these matches was fun. It was nice to finally see Collision and officially watching Rampage. For Rampage, I haven't seen the show since I saw the taping of it back in April with Mark and Johnny. Collision however was a breath of fresh air! The commentary was SUCH an improvement! It wasn’t a bunch of joking and stuff like Dynamite and they brought up references to compare matches and wrestlers to. Okay, rant aside, let me give my thoughts on all of this. All of the women matches kept me engaged, but I do hope they do something with all of them and take it somewhere. I guess all we can do is wait and see. My favorite of these was definitely Taya vs Toni! Two good workers that kept me into the match.
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