By Mark Rodriguez and Ninja Jupi
This time around we have Athena defending her title, Billie Starkz facing the other Renegade Twin after defeating Robyn last week and more. What surprise match did Maria Kanellis set up for Leyla Hirsch?
Match 1- Brittany J VS Athena- RoH Women's World Championship Proving Ground Match
After a handshake, Athena shoves Brittany out of the way to get on the ropes and pose to the crowd. Brittany takes this chance to go for a roll up pin, which the champ gets out of. Brittany manages to sock her in the face, and when Athena runs after her, she trips her out of the ring. Brittany gets onto the apron and plans to run and kick her in the face, but Athena catches her foot and pulls her down onto the floor.
Athena picks up Brittany and slams her into the barricade. She then starts yelling at and messing with the commentary. Athena rolls her opponent back into the ring. Brittany starts fighting back and goes for the hurricarana, but Athena flips to her feet. The Fallen Goddess then picks up Brittany and slams her with a Pop Up Powerbomb. Athena then socks her out and goes for the pin, scoring the win.
As Athena celebrates her victory, Robyn and Charlette Renegade run in and gang up on her. Suddenly Billie Starkz comes in and the Twins back away and leave. Billie checks to see if Athena is alright, but the champ shoves her back and grabs her title. Athena leaves, looking angry that Billie helped her.
Mark's Thoughts-
Very short match. Athena sure came in bouncing with energy. She was playing up the playful but crazy heel act a lot, even with an overly arrogant handshake. The match was alright, but nothing too noteworthy happened. The big deal was the Renegade Sisters running in on Athena, angry at how she attacked them the week prior. We'll see what happens later on as Billie is still booked to wrestle Charlette later tonight.
Jupi's Thoughts-
I have no what idea what to expect since Brittany started in the ring. Whenever I see that, I expect that person to lose, but it's an Athena match. I expect that anyway...the questions are how is the opponent going to lose and how long will it take for that person to lose. Anyway, this is another qualification prerequisite. If you beat Athena, you get a future title shot against her.
It was funny how Athena started in the ring. She went up, and had like this, "I'm a queen" like pose thing going on when doing the RoH handshake. She then ignored Brittany J and went to the ropes to rile up the crowd and stuff, and then Brittany used that as an opportunity to roll her up into a pin, which she OF COURSE kicked out of. It got so crazy after that! I was thinking, hey, maybe this match won't be all that fast, especially since the fight went outside of the ring. Poor Brittany though! I cringed when Athena pulled her off of the apron onto the floor and then slammed her onto the announce table with one of the commentators cowering in fear over Athena's presence!
Of course Athena won with her streak now being 36-0, but it didn't last long! I wasn't expecting the Renegade Twins to run to the ring and start beating her up. Starkz then ran in to help Athena to return the favor from last week! I can't help but wonder where this will go. Will this earn Athena's respect towards Starkz or will she have some slight resentment that the young one had to help her? We'll see I guess.
Match 2- Madison Rayne In Action (VS Dina Mo)
Both women start grappling as Madison gets out of Dani's wristlock. Dani gets Madison in a back slide pin, but Madison gets out of it. Madison goes for the roll up, and then tries a double leg bridge pin, but Dani gets out of both. Dani whips Madison and runs after her. Madison kicks her back. Dani charges at her again and Madison flips onto the ring apron. Dani grabs her and slams her face into the top turnbuckle.
Dani gets Madison up against the ropes and starts hitting her with chops and forearm shots. She then sends her to the mat with a snapmare. Dani cartwheels in front of her and smashes her knee into Madison's face. Dani grabs her for a firewoman's carry but Madison slips from her grasp. Madison hits her with an enzuigiri and then starts throwing her own forearm shots. Madison slams her knee into Dani's face and then hits her with the Neckbreaker.
Madison goes for the Northern Lights Suplex but Dani gets out of it. Madison gets her ready for her finisher, but Dani grabs and yanks her on her hair. Dani starts throwing more chops and forearms and goes a kick that Madison raises her arms to block. Dani was faking her out and kicks her across the ribs.
Dani goes for another kick but Madison ducks under it this time. She kicks Dani across the back and grabs her for the Cross Rayne. Madison goes for the pin and wins the match.
Mark's Thoughts-
Well, this match came out of nowhere, and honestly it's been a good while since we've seen Madison Rayne. This was a hard-hitting matching, and you can hear how the crowd was booing when Dani smashed their heroine's face into the turnbuckle, and later on when she fakes her out to get a cheap shot to the ribs. Madison looked great and it was good to see back in action. This was Dani's debut match and she did a good job bringing the fight to the Queen Bee.
Jupi's Thoughts-
An in action match...also, an unexpected one, which probably means a squash match with the debuting Dani Mo losing in like 5 seconds. Maybe they tossed in this impromptu match because they're in Columbus, OH, which is Rayne's hometown.
Okay, I will admit, this match wasn't so bad. It was a "scientific match up" between them. I'd never heard that term before, and given how technical both were in the ring, I can only assume that it refers to technical work in the ring. They had a couple of bridged pins and they kicked out, and Dani really got boo'd when she threw Rayne into the turnbuckle. Dani is also a bit agile since she did a cartwheel at one point and knee'd Rayne in the face!
Even though this match was short, Rayne being the victor of course, at least it wasn't short in the sense of the entrance to the ring being longer than the actual match. Dani looked good in this match and didn't seem weak in the slightest! I hope she gets some more opportunities to showcase her talents. I do enjoy seeing technical moves in the ring as opposed to people constantly throwing themselves off of dangerous spots which would likely land them in retirement at about the age of 30. ~looks at most of the male wrestlers on the AEW roster and Darby Allin 😝~
Match 3- Charlette Renegade VS Bille Starkz
Earlier on Lexi was interviewing Billie Starz on what's the deal with Athena. The Renegades shows up to say they took down Athena easily and will do the same to her. Billie Starkz is ready to face them.
Billie goes for the handshake, but Charlette hits her with a sucker punch and starts beating her down. Charlette grabs her for a firewoman's carry , but Billie elbows her in the face to escape from her grasp. Billie tries to grab her waist but Charlette holds onto the ropes. Billie runs at her and slides through the ropes, landing outside of the ring where Robyn was lurking. Robyn gets into Billie's face as a distraction and Charlette knocks her down with a suicide dive.
Charlette knocks her down and continues the beatdown. She then grabs Billie in a hold as she yanks back on her nostrils. Billie crawls over to the ropes and Charlette slams into her. Billie starts kicking her back and then goes for the ropes. Robyn grabs her leg and as the ref tries to stop her, Charlette grabs Billie for a superplex off the ropes. Charlette doesn't let go of Billie's waist and tries to go for another slam, but Billie slams her down instead and goes for the pin. the Renegade Sister kicked out.
Billie grabs Charlette and slams her with the Facebuster. She goes to pin her, while keeping an eye on Robyn. The moment the match ended, Robyn runs in and starts beating on Billie, with Charlette also joining in.
Athena runs in and tackles Robyn down. Athena and Billie start fighting off the Renegade Twins. After both sisters are out of the ring, Athena and Billie have a bit of a staredown. They then both do a running dive to knock down both sisters. Billie thinks they're a team but Athena shoves her away and gets back into the ring to get her title.
Athena challenged Billie to a fight, but Billie would rather shake hands and end things for now. The crowd chants for Athena to shake her hand. Athena goes for the shake and then fakes her out. She walks out of the ring and calls Billie her 'minion' and tells her to follow her. Billie doesn't know what to think of this but decides to go with her.
Mark's Thoughts-
This was a pretty intense match and we got to see some killer moves like the Superplex off the ropes and the Michinoku Driver. This time the commentary didn't go as wild as last week, reminding you that Billie was 18 every 2 seconds. They did mention that this time the Renegades did style their hair exactly the same, making it harder to tell them apart. Robyn had some extra straps around her waist, but other than that it would have been hard to tell if they did Twin Magic tactics. I'm surprised that never happened.
Athena came in to the rescue and while she still seems to be aggressive towards Billie, she now called her a minion and I guess she will follow her around now? I wonder if we'll see a tag match between the four women to put a nice ribbon on this feud with the Renegades. I also want to see where this story of Billie being a minion for Athena will go.
Jupi's Opinions-
The 18-year-old is back to take on the other twin! I expect some shenanigans from the Renegade Twins.
The match started off as expected. They shook hands, but then a sucker punch was landed. Anyway, throughout he match, I did sigh a few times. One time that came to mind was when Billie ended up outside of the ring and was easily distracted by Robyn so that Charlette could get a hit in on her. Why do wrestlers insist on doing obvious things like that. It's more interesting when they don't fall for the obvious. Oh, that nasty nosehold that Charlette had on Starkz had me cringing. So gross man!
Oh, something else I hate that you all know and I know I probably sound like a broken record, but....WHY ARE THE REFS SO INCOMPETENT!! So, Starkz got on the top rope, but Robyn tried to pull her down. THE REF WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT HER!! Also, Starkz did end up doing a Swan Dive off the top rope, but the ref was still too distracted by Robyn outside of the ring. I mean, come on! She ended up missing, and boy did it hurt! 😣 After that, Charlette used something called the Michinoku Driver, which just sounds cool to say. lol
All of this craziness aside, Starkz won by using a Facebuster, which was so cool to see. The 18-year-old won and the commentators didn't have to remind us 100 times about that either! Only about three or four times. 😆
The real action was what happened after. Predictably, the twins ganged up on Starkz, but Athena hopped in to help and both took on the twins! That was so awesome! They even did a synchronized dive on the twins! I liked that! Even though Athena is small, she's still intimidating and Starkz bowed to her. I thought hat was so awesome! Too bad Athena doesn't seem to fully respect her because Athena said to Starkz, "Come on, minion". lol! Man, what does this mean going forward. Poor 18-year-old Billie Starkz... I sense a tag-team situation coming up.
Afterwards there's an interview with Lexi and Athena, as Athena calls Lexi her 'bestie' and Billie her 'minion'. Billie thinks what's more important is dealing with the Renegade Twins and challenges them both to a tag match. Athena says she doesn't do the thinking around her, the champ does. She tells Billie to follow her and drive her to the mall. Billie says she's not her minion, but follows anyway.
Match 4- Trish Adora VS Lady Frost
Both women shake hands and start to grapple. Trish picks up Frost but is pulled down for a roll up pin. Trish kicks out and Frost armdrags her in for another cover. Trish kicks out and tries to pin Frost twice. Frost goes for the ropes and flips out of the way of Trish's attack. As Frost goes over to her, Trish kicks her on the side of the head. She then grabs her for a snapmare. Trish pulls back both of Frost's arms and plants her boot across her back. She then pushes her down, folding Frost in half and making her face touch the mat. Trish follows up with a headscissors pin but Frost kicks out of it and rolls over to the apron to catch a breather.
Trish hits her with a forearm shot and then starts knocking her down with axe handles. She does a flying crossbody to knock her down again. Trish then picks up Frost and sets her boots up against the top ropes and hits her with a sternum breaker. She goes for the pin but Frost kicks out.
Trish goes for a running punch but Frost avoids it and grabs her for a roll up pin. Trish kicks out but Frost clocks her with a spinning kick to the side of the face. Trish goes for the ropes and does the Frost Bite, landing on her and going for the cover. Lady Frost wins the match!
Mark's Thoughts-
This was a pretty fun match with a lot of fast paced moves. Frost got to show off her agility with all her flips and cartwheels, though she did stumble when she flipped off the ropes earlier in the match. Trish got to show off some painful looking holds and that sternum breaker looked brutal. I liked this match because either one could have won. I'm glad Lady Frost scored the win though and hope she continues to rise in the ranks.
Jupi's Thoughts-
So, Trish is still a part of the Infantry for...reasons not revealed...I think. That aside, this match should be pretty cool. Both are good in the ring and since both are established and no storylines connecting them to my knowledge (this is RoH), it could definitely go either way.
So, as mentioned, both are cool...Lady Frost being a little "cooler". 😅 -crickets chirp-
-clears throat over bad joke- Um...so far for this match up, Trish is looking really strong. She managed to get Frost into this hold I can't even fully describe! It's like, she was holding her arms, but at the same time, she was doing a split on Frost. It was like a weird submission move! I don't think I've ever seen that before. It looked so uncomfortable for Frost! 😣 Another spot that was impressive included Frost on the apron. She ended up doing a cartwheel and Trish was trying to pull her down, but she kinda dodged that with like a handstand and then....I dunno! So much going on! Mark-senpai will explain it, but I was impressed. It highlighted that gymnast athleticism that I noticed about Frost when seeing her on Dark.
Going back to Trish, oh man! When she had Frost in the corner on the rope and she did that Sternum Breaker on her, I was like, "Frost no move no more". Trish covered her, but Frost kicked out! For this entire match up, they both kicked out of pins I just knew would've ended the match, In the end Frost won after using her finisher. Boy did this match keep me hyped!
There was also a short interview segment between Lexi and Kiera Hogan. Kiera has now set her sights on Lady Frost and is calling her out. We'll see when those two fight it out.
Match 5- Rachael Ellering VS Leyla Hirsch
Earlier on, Lexi was interviewing Maria Kanellis about Leyla. Leyla shows up and asks her what exactly she can do for her. Maria sets up this match against Rachael Ellering.
As the match starts. Leyla kicks Rachael's hand away (which counts as a handshake) and both women begin to grapple. Rachael grabs Leyla for a scoop slam and then lands on her with a running senton. Rachael hits Leyla with a chop, then gets her against the ropes, hitting her with more.
Leyla kicks Rachael across the arm, using that as a target. She grabs onto the arm and does elbow drops on it. She then grabs her by the injured arm in a hammerlock and drives Rachael into the turnbuckle. She then grabs her in the fujiwara armlock. After a struggled, Rachael manages to stand up lifting Leyla and swinging her into the mat. Rachael then runs and hits her with a dropkick to the face.
Rachael knocks Leyla down with a running European Uppercut and then picks her up and slams with a brainbuster. Racheal gets Leyla up and hits her with more chops. Leyla goes for the ropes and gets on top of Rachael when she tries to attack her. Leyla wraps herself around Rachael and gets her in an octopus stretch. Rachael grabs her ankle and sends her rolling into the mat. She then grabs Leyla for a swinging slam.
Both women try to pin each other, and Leyla grabs her in a cross-armbreaker. With no way out, Rachael taps out. Leyla wins the match!!
Mark's Thoughts-
Fun match. Leyla brought all her submission moves and holds, Rachael brought all the power moves. It was good to see Rachael again and I hope she becomes a more permanent part of Ring of Honor. She did a good job selling, the second half of the match she had to fight pretty much one-armed, while heavily favoring her left arm. Leyla scores another win, but I'm surprised Maria Kanellis didn't come out to congratulate her or anything.
Jupi's Thought-
Welcome back Rachel! Also, man, I so love Leyla's theme! Welp, let's see how this match up goes and I expect that it'll be a decent one. What does Maria Kannellis have up her sleeve since she was the one to put this match together?
Rachel seems so strong! Those chops she applied to Leyla were brutal! She was hitting her so hard, I was feeling it! Later on, though, Leyla got her in a submission lock, but Rachel just used all of her strength to pick her up while in that arm-locked move. That's pretty impressive! Even though Rachel is showing off the strength, that's not to say that Leyla isn't doing her thing. She keeps landing those submission moves which did eventually end with Rachel submitting. I'm going to be honest, I did expect this match to go on for a bit longer and expected Maria to show up, but oh well. I guess to be fair, this card was pretty full. so maybe that's why this match felt so short.
Wow, this was a pretty full episode of Ring of Honor, for forgive the longer than normal post. Not only did we get the matches announced beforehand on Instagram, we also got a surprise Madison Rayne match and a Leyla match. We also got more backstage interview fun with Athena and Lexi as well as Kiera calling out Lady Frost.
It was difficult to find a favorite match, even the shorter ones had a lot of impressive moves and spots. I like the progression of the story with Athena, Billie and the Renegades as it helps out the latter two get more involved and make more appearances. There's also Leyla Hirsch possibly being drafted into Maria's group. Even with AEW All In coming up, I can't wait to see how these stories progress in the next episode of Ring of Honor!
Jupi's Thoughts-
Man, this week's episode of RoH had so much going on for it! So many unannounced women's matches. I can't help but wonder why it was set up this way, but at least the women got some screen and airtime. I suppose out of all of these, I'm most curious of Athena and her partnership with Billie Starkz. Didn't know it at the time of my thoughts on the Starkz vs Renegade match, but she challenged the twins to a tag-team match. I'm just so curious as to how that is going to turn out! Will they beat the twins? Will we see Athena conking Starkz to remind her of her place since she was the one to issue the challenge instead of her, which starts a rivalry between them? Oh and since Leyla Hirsch won her match, I wonder what will happen next when she faces Maria again. Where is that story going to go?
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