Match #1: Alexis Laree vs. Persephone (Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II – 4/26/03)
They trade pin attempts and find themselves at a stalemate. They exchange forearms and Persephone retreats to the apron. She snaps Laree’s throat across the top rope. Persephone takes control until Laree connects with a missile dropkick. Laree hits an inverted DDT for the win at 5:23. This was just a quick match to bring everyone back from intermission. *½
Match #2: Alexis Laree vs. Sumie Sakai (Wrestlerave – 6/28/03)
They trade dropkicks. Sakai blocks a charge and comes off the middle rope with a dropkick. She follows with another missile dropkick. Sakai applies a bow and arrow and transitions into a boston crab. Laree reverses a fisherman buster into a small package and they roll around the ring pinning each other’s shoulders down. Sakai hits a back suplex and a northern lights suplex. Laree responds with an inverted DDT for the victory at 4:40. This was really good while it lasted but way too short. They actually had the crowd with them and Sakai showcased herself well in what little time she had. **
Match #3: Allison Danger vs. Sarah Stock (The Conclusion – 11/28/03)
They have a sloppy exchange and the crowd is dead. Danger lays in a couple of kicks to the back. She hits a neckbreaker. They exchange strikes in the corner. Stock hits an overhead suplex to some applause. She takes Danger over with a headscissors. Stock armdrags out of a dominator but misses a missile dropkick. Danger hits a uranagi for the win at 3:58. Stock tried her best, but Danger looked impossible to work with. ½*
Match #4: Allison Danger vs. Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Traci Brooks (3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 3 – 2/26/05)
Haze and Brooks begin with some chain wrestling. They trade pin attempts to no avail. Lacey and Danger are pretty stiff with each other. Haze enters the ring but Danger works her over. Lacey interjects and hits a nasty backbreaker on Haze. She connects with a missile dropkick on Danger and makes the tag. Brooks hits a bulldog on Lacey. Danger and Lacey come to blows on the floor. Haze dives onto them from the top rope but they catch her and throw her into the front row. In the ring, Brooks connects with a lariat on Lacey. Lacey recovers with an implant DDT on Danger for the victory at 10:48. A hot finishing stretch couldn’t compensate for a pretty dull first eight minutes. Unlike in the last match, Danger was the glue that managed to somewhat hold this match together. *¾
Match #5: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger vs. Mercedes Martinez (Best in the World – 3/25/06)
Haze tries a quick rollup on Lacey to no avail. They have a solid exchange on the mat and find themselves at a stalemate. Martinez and Danger battle over a knucklelock. Martinez lays in some punches and hits a shoulder tackle. Danger pops back to her feet and applies a wacky submission. Haze breaks up the hold with a boot to Danger’s face. Lacey connects with double knees to Danger’s back and she’s isolated. Danger curb stomps Haze and tags out. Martinez hits rolling suplexes on Lacey. She follows with a spinebuster on Haze. Haze lands a dive to the floor onto Lacey and Danger. Actually, Martinez pushed her off the top rope but they got the same effect. Danger swings Haze into the barricade. Jesus. In the ring, Martinez hits a fisherman buster on Lacey but she’s not legal. Haze connects with a missile dropkick on Martinez. Danger rolls up Lacey for the win at 10:30. In front of Ring of Honor’s biggest crowd to date, these women killed it. This was a great showcase for SHIMMER, as they kept the action flowing and showed their familiarity with each other. You also cannot have a better commentator than Dave Prazak when it comes to his knowledge of women’s wrestling. Really good stuff all around. ***
Match #6: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Rain vs. Allison Danger vs. MsChif vs. Cheerleader Melissa (Supercard of Honor – 3/31/06)
Everyone tries rollups to no avail. MsChif and Haze have a nice exchange. Lacey hits a backbreaker on Haze. Danger curb kicks Lacey in the back of the head. Melissa hits a samoan drop on MsChif. They do a string of connective submissions. It actually looks pretty awesome. Lacey breaks it up. MsChif lands a dive to the floor onto everyone. Haze follows out with a moonsault. In the ring, Haze hits the Mind Trip on Danger. Melissa back suplexes Lacey but runs into a lariat from Rain. All six women are down. MsChif hits Code Green on Danger. Lacey hits her implant DDT on MsChif. Haze connects with the Heart Punch on Lacey. Rain hits the Acid Rain on Haze. Melissa hits an air raid crash on Rain. She stretches MsChif with a submission. MsChif recovers with the Desecrator on Rain for the victory at 8:45. The action was pretty solid, but I still preferred the Best in the World showcase. Here, it felt like they were trying to force an epic rather than letting the action play out. **½
Match #7: Allison Danger, Daizee Haze, and MsChif vs. Lacey, Rain, and Cheerleader Melissa (Better Than Our Best – 4/1/06)
Danger and Melissa begin with some chain wrestling. Lacey seems afraid to wrestle MsChif but eventually reconsiders. Haze snaps off a hurricanrana on Rain. Melissa powerslams Danger and applies a cloverleaf. MsChif breaks up the hold. Haze finds herself in the wrong corner and gets isolated. She spikes Rain with a tornado DDT and makes the tag. MsChif and Melissa go at it. Melissa bucklebombs Haze into MsChif. MsChif now gets worked over. Danger tags into the match and cleans house. Rain catches her with an inverted DDT. Haze Heart Punches Lacey and connects with a yakuza kick. Danger applies a dragon sleeper on Rain for the win at 17:20. For a preshow main event, this match was given a lot of time to develop. They stuck to formula, but that’s not always a bad thing. Some segments of the match dragged for a bit, but they were mostly able to keep things interesting for the entire seventeen minutes. **½
Match #8: Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey (Destiny – 8/29/06)
Haze hangs onto a side headlock. Del Rey manages to escape and land a seated senton. She takes control with various submissions. Haze lands a tilt-a-whirl crossbody and connects with a powerdrive elbow. She locks in a standing crucifix and gains the advantage with a muta lock. Del Rey boots her to the canvas and pushes her to the outside. In the ring, Del Rey hits a samoan drop. Haze fires back with the Heart Punch followed by a yakuza kick for a nearfall. Del Rey hits a spinning powerbomb along with the Royal Butterfly for the victory at 11:27. An enjoyable finishing stretch was dampened by a not so great start. These two would go on to have much better matches later in their careers. **¼
Match #9: Daizee Haze vs. Mercedes Martinez (Honor Reclaims Boston – 11/3/06)
Haze is coming off her run in the Embassy. She holds onto a side headlock and snaps off a headscissors. Martinez lays in a loud chop and hits a brainbuster. She connects with a boot and takes over. Haze hits a chinbreaker and a facebuster. She connects with a corner dropkick and hits another chinbreaker. Martinez blocks the Heart Punch but Haze connects on the second attempt. Martinez fires back with a fisherman buster for the win at 4:30. Martinez has been very entertaining on this compilation thus far. Decent while it lasted, but too short to accomplish much. *½
Match #10: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger vs. Nikki Roxx (Black Friday Fallout – 11/24/06)
Lacey attacks Haze before the opening bell. Danger and Lacey trade forearms. Roxx connects with a corner dropkick on Lacey but gets caught by a stunner from Haze. Haze avoids the curb kick and Danger gets worked over. She creates an opening with Lacey and makes the tag. Haze immediately targets Lacey. Roxx hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Haze along with a butterfly suplex. She hits the Barbie Crusher on Danger. Haze Heart Punches Roxx. Lacey hits an implant DDT on Roxx for the victory at 8:28. Some four corner survivals (like at Best in the World) work out and some just seem plodding. All four women worked hard here, but just could not get anything going to interest the crowd. This was the opener of the show and did not function well for its place on the card. *¾
Match #11: No Disqualification: Colt Cabana, BJ Whitmer, and Daizee Haze vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Brent Albright, and Lacey (Dedicated – 1/26/07)
Everyone starts brawling before the opening bell. Cabana sends Albright into the barricade. They brawl into the crowd. Whitmer blocks a satellite headscissors from Jacobs and lands a dive to the floor. Lacey works over Haze in the ring and the heels are in control. Albright uses Jacobs as a lawn dart to throw at Cabana. Cabana fights back with a series of bionic elbows. He hits the flying asshole onto both of his male opponents. Lacey dodges it. Whitmer thinks about hitting an exploder on Lacey. Cabana tells him to stop and grabs a table from under the ring. Jacobs saves Lacey with a spear on Whitmer. Cabana hits a gutbuster on Jacobs. Haze connects with a yakuza kick on Lacey. Whitmer catches Jacobs with a bucklebomb and Haze punts him down low. Albright interjects with a couple of chair shots. He tosses Haze across the ring with a german suplex. Jacobs splashes Haze through a table with a senton for the win at 10:25. This was an energetic brawl until the slower finish, which was mainly designed to put heat on the heels. As storyline advancement, this functioned well and added some variety to the compilation. **½
Match #12: Daizee Haze and Alexa Thatcher vs. Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger (Fifth Year Festival: New York City – 2/16/07)
Haze and Danger have a nice exchange on the mat. Haze headscissors Del Rey and hits a facebuster. Thatcher and Haze connect with stereo dropkicks on Del Rey. Lacey suddenly pulls Haze off the apron and brawls with her. Del Rey hits a german suplex on Thatcher. Del Rey follows with the Royal Butterfly for the victory at 3:16. I genuinely don’t understand why this was included on the compilation, as it merely served to advance the Lacey/Haze feud. ½*
Match #13: Street Fight: Colt Cabana, BJ Whitmer, and Daizee Haze vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Adam Pearce, and Lacey (Fifth Year Festival: Philly – 2/17/07)
Jacobs chokes Whitmer with a chair at ringside. Haze connects with a yakuza kick on Lacey. Pearce pokes Haze in the eye. Awesome. Cabana drives Pearce into all four top turnbuckles. Jacobs spears Cabana out of nowhere. Haze assists Cabana with the flying asshole onto all three of their opponents. Whitmer and Jacobs brawl into the crowd. They utilize multiple chairs and an equipment crate. Pearce hip tosses Cabana over the barricade. Whitmer hangs Jacobs over the top rope with his belt. Jacobs comes back with his spike. Whitmer, busted open, blocks the Contra Code but falls victim to a reverse hurricanrana. Cabana hits an air raid backbreaker on Jacobs. Pearce chokeslams Cabana for a nearfall. Haze misses the Heart Punch and Lacey hits her implant DDT. Jacobs ties Cabana’s hands behind his back with duct tape. Jacobs hits him in the throat with a high heel shoe. Whitmer makes the save, as Cabana is in bad shape. Whitmer hits a top-rope exploder on Jacobs for the win at 13:21. Watching the Dedicated brawl before this one helped my enjoyment quite a bit because I was able to see how the violence escalated. This match did a much better job of delivering a worthwhile brawl while still advancing a storyline. ***
Match #14: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze (Fifth Year Festival: Dayton – 2/23/07)
They immediately begin brawling. Haze dropkicks Lacey to the outside. She dives from the top rope onto Lacey and Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs provides a distraction, allowing Lacey to take over in the ring. Haze fires back with a series of slaps and a palm strike. They battle on the middle rope and Haze hits a superplex. Lacey mocks the Heart Punch but falls victim to a german suplex. Jacobs sneaks into the ring and spears Haze behind the referee’s back. Lacey covers for the victory at 8:15. Based on this encounter, I could see these two having a good little match given more time. They made their hatred for each other apparent and while the finish is a little silly, they made the most out of their opportunity here. **½
Match #15: Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger vs. MsChif and Serena Deeb (Fifth Year Festival: Chicago – 2/24/07)
Deeb snaps off a few armdrags on Del Rey and monkey flips her across the ring. Danger provides a distraction, allowing the Dangerous Angels to take control for a bit. MsChif falls victim to a neckbreaker and gets worked over. She hits Code Green on Del Rey and makes the tag. Deeb dropkicks Danger and they exchange cradles around the ring. Del Rey hits a samoan drop on Deeb and follows with the Royal Butterfly for the win at 7:27. Perfectly acceptable professional wrestling. The Dangerous Angels made quite the good team. **
Match #16: Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger vs. Jetta and Eden Black (Fifth Year Festival: Finale – 3/4/07)
Del Rey slaps Jetta, so she quickly tags out. Eden blocks a monkey flip from Danger with a nice pinning combination. The Blacks isolate Danger until she makes the tag after trading rollups with Eden. Del Rey boots Jetta and hits a northern lights suplex. Eden hits a crucifix bomb on Del Rey. Danger hits a facebuster on Eden and connects with a running knee strike. Jetta throws Danger to the floor. Del Rey catches Jetta with the Royal Butterfly for the victory at 6:18. Del Rey was starting to separate herself from every other SHIMMER competitor at this point. The Dangerous Angels had an undefeated streak going on and that was continued here. Unfortunately, most of the action was sloppy barring Del Rey’s involvement. *¾
Match #17: Anything Goes: Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey vs. BJ Whitmer and Daizee Haze (All Star Extravaganza III – 3/30/07)
Jacobs immediately brings out his spike. Whitmer boots him in the face and inadvertently drives the spike into the top turnbuckle. They suplex each other to the floor. Haze hits a northern lights suplex on Lacey as Whitmer and Jacobs brawl through the crowd. Jacobs and Lacey take control. Whitmer and Jacobs reenter the ring. They find themselves in a dangerous place on the top rope. Lacey breaks it up. Jacobs takes out Haze with a double axe handle. Jacobs spears Haze out of her shoes. Literally. Lacey finishes with her implant DDT for the win at 9:49. This was a decent brawl that lacked any kind of interesting crescendo. It was more of the same with Jacobs ultimately beating Haze. Still, the spear looked awesome and I wasn‘t expecting the shoes to come off at all. **¾
Match #18: Lacey and Rain vs. Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger (The Battle of St. Paul – 4/27/07)
Danger tries a bridging pin attempt on Rain to no avail. The Dangerous Angels catch Rain with stereo shoulder tackles and drop stereo elbows. The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew find an opening to double team Del Rey. She responds with a double crossbody. Lacey angers Danger, so she connects with the curb kick. The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew use double team maneuvers to isolate Danger. Del Rey eventually tags into the match. She hits a gutwrench suplex on Rain. Del Rey puts both of her opponents in the Royal Butterfly. Everyone starts brawling in the ring. Rain hits a backcracker on Del Rey. Danger hits a facebuster on Lacey but Jimmy Jacobs trips her. Lacey hits an implant DDT on Danger for the victory at 9:33. The Dangerous Angels’ undefeated streak in ROH is over. The action down the stretch became quite good and they were able to hold the crowd’s attention for the entirety of the match. **½
Match #19: Daizee Haze vs. Nikki Roxx (Reborn Again – 5/11/07)
Roxx fights off a side headlock and we’re at a stalemate. They get into each other’s faces and have a shoulder block battle. Haze snaps off a headscissors and lands a crossbody. Roxx rolls through and hits a spinning uranagi. Haze responds with a facebuster and the Mind Trip for the win at 5:00. I hate to sound like a broken record, but this was fine but couldn’t accomplish anything in the time given. Roxx has looked great thus far on this compilation. *¼
Match #20: Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey (Respect is Earned – 5/12/07)
Del Rey blocks a flying crossbody and hits a fallaway slam. She takes control until Haze is able to land her crossbody. They battle on the middle rope and Haze connects with the Heart Punch. She comes off the top with a clothesline. Del Rey applies the Royal Butterfly and innovatively transitions into a gory special. Haze counters into a rollup for a nearfall. Del Rey blocks the Mind Trip and pulls off a quick pin attempt for the victory at 5:54. Despite being much shorter, I actually liked this better than their first singles encounter. The crowd was with them and this was a fine showcase on a big show in ROH’s history. **½
Match #21: Lacey and Rain vs. Daizee Haze and MsChif (Driven 2007 – 6/23/07)
Haze and MsChif take over Rain with a suplex and follow with some double teaming. Haze stretches Lacey with a bow and arrow. The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew isolate Haze until she uses her flexibility to make the tag. MsChif cleans house with clotheslines. She gets both of her opponents in a submission. Lacey hits a backbreaker on MsChif along with an assisted inverted DDT for the win at 8:40. Perfectly acceptable professional wrestling. **
Match #22: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze (Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 – 8/10/07)
Haze connects with a dropkick during the pre-match handshake. Lacey retreats to the floor. Haze connects with a baseball slide and brawls with Lacey around ringside. Sara Del Rey appears on the entrance ramp to watch the action. Haze hits a suplex and transitions into a northern lights suplex. Lacey connects with a clothesline and gains the advantage. She applies the Royal Butterfly at one point and talks down to Del Rey. Haze connects with a missile dropkick and both women are down. Haze reverses an implant DDT into a rollup for a nearfall. She hits a german suplex. Lacey blocks the Mind Trip, hits a lungblower, and finishes with an implant DDT for the victory at 8:09. These two have excellent chemistry together. There seems to be a running theme of Haze attempting the Mind Trip too early in her matches and it costing her the win. That actually makes perfect sense, as the Mind Trip would be difficult to pull off unless an opponent was sufficiently groggy. **¾
Match #23: SHIMMER Title: Sara Del Rey © vs. Lacey (Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 – 8/11/07)
This would be the first time that the SHIMMER Title was defended in Ring of Honor. Lacey earned this title shot during the previous match and Daizee Haze is out to watch. Del Rey is very aggressive early on. The action soon goes to the floor where they trade forearms. In the ring, Lacey snaps Del Rey’s back across the middle rope and takes over. Del Rey comes back with a powerbomb. They exchange forearms and Del Rey connects with repeated boots. Lacey responds with a lungblower for a nearfall. Del Rey uses all of her weight on a rollup for a two count. Lacey hits a rope-assisted DDT but falls victim to a german suplex. Del Rey follows with the Royal Butterfly to retain her title at 12:39. I forgot how good Lacey was in the ring. This ranks up there with the best SHIMMER matches in Ring of Honor. They gave the match plenty of time to play out and the previous night’s #1 contender match built this encounter up well. This weekend was probably the most interesting SHIMMER’s presence in ROH had been thus far. ***
Match #24: Sara Del Rey and Lacey vs. Daizee Haze and Amazing Kong (Man Up! – 9/15/07)
Haze snaps off a headscissors on Del Rey but runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Kong and Del Rey stare each other down. Kong charges at her with a clothesline and hits a splash. Lacey looks befuddled on the apron. Del Rey creates an opening with a stiff kick to the midsection. Lacey does her best but gets run over by Kong. Del Rey interjects herself from the apron, allowing Lacey to isolate Haze. She victory rolls Del Rey to create an opening and tags out. Kong cleans house with clotheslines. She military presses Haze to the floor onto both of their opponents. In the ring, Kong connects with a spinning backfist on Del Rey and follows with the Amazing Press for a nearfall. Kong also backfists Lacey. Del Rey catches Kong with a roaring elbow but falls victim to the Implant Buster for a two count. Del Rey somehow responds with a german suplex. Haze Heart Punches Lacey into a powerbomb from Kong. Haze hits the Mind Trip on Lacey for the victory at 15:05. The best match on the compilation thus far by a substantial margin. This was an incredible introduction to Kong. Haze enlisting her help to combat her two archrivals was a good way to setup this contest as well. I’m mentioned the story around Haze’s Mind Trip and it’s suiting that she won this match with the Mind Trip after Lacey took a beating. These four brought it on this night. ***½
Match #25: Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey (Rising Above 2007 – 12/29/07)
Haze takes both of her opponents over with a side headlock-headscissors combination. She connects with a basement dropkick on Lacey, who responds with a neckbreaker. Lacey proposes an alliance with Del Rey. That doesn’t work out particularly well for her. They do a double submission spot. Haze hits a facebuster on Del Rey. All three women are down. Haze connects with a double missile dropkick and hits a double senton. Del Rey locks in a double Royal Butterfly. Lacey hits a lungblower on Del Rey and Haze adds the Mind Trip. Haze follows with the Mind Trip on Lacey for the win at 6:21. The SHIMMER roster made it to the pay per view airing after their efforts at Man Up! but this felt like the same old SHIMMER showcase with an unusually responsive crowd. **¼
Match #26: SHIMMER Title: Sara Del Rey © vs. Daizee Haze (6th Anniversary Show – 2/23/08)
Haze hangs onto a side headlock and snaps off a satellite headscissors. She comes off the middle rope with a hurricanrana. Del Rey just launches her overhead and takes control. Haze dodges a corner yakuza kick and sends Del Rey to the floor. She follows out with a dive from the top rope. In the ring, they exchange forearms. Haze connects with a missile dropkick and both women are down. Haze hits a facebuster and connects with the Heart Punch. She hits a german suplex for a nearfall. Del Rey blocks the Mind Trip and connects with an axe kick. Del Rey hits the Royal Butterfly to retain her title at 8:29. Another decent match between these two but it felt like more of the same. The crowd collectively gasped at the axe kick, which was a cool moment. **½
Match #27: Daizee Haze vs. Lacey vs. MsChif vs. Ashley Lane (Return Engagement – 4/19/08)
MsChif and Lane exchange armdrags. Haze and Lane have a nice back and forth exchange. Lacey kicks Haze from the apron and snaps her neck across the top rope. Haze is isolated until she hits a chinbreaker on Lane and tags out. MsChif stretches Lane’s foot behind her head and transitions into a gutbuster. Lacey and MsChif work over Lane. MsChif tags in but falls victim to an ace crusher. Haze Heart Punches Lane and connects with a yakuza kick. Lacey hits a TKO on Haze. MsChif rolls up Lacey for a nearfall. MsChif lands a dive to the floor onto all three of her opponents. In the ring, Lane lands a flying crossbody onto MsChif while Haze and Lacey brawl around ringside. MsChif hits the Desecrator on Lane for the win at 10:31. After seeing a lot of Haze/Lacey/Del Rey interaction, MsChif and Lane were welcome additions to what was a better-than-usual SHIMMER four corner survival. **¾
Match #28: Sara Del Rey vs. Jennifer Blake (Northern Navigation – 7/25/08)
Del Rey attacks before the opening bell. She bites Blake’s forehead and lays in repeated kicks. Blake snaps off a headscissors but gets hurled into the turnbuckles. She fires back with machine gun chops in the corner. Blake connects with a superkick and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Del Rey connects with an axe kick for the victory at 3:32. These are actually my least favorite kind of squashes, when someone finally decides to “get serious” and end the match out of nowhere. Still, Del Rey looked dominant. *
Match #29: Daizee Haze vs. Madison Eagles (Driven 2008 – 9/19/08)
Eagles attacks before the opening bell. Haze flips out of a back suplex but runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Haze comes back with a tornado DDT and the Heart Punch. Haze hits the Mind Trip for the win at 2:05. ½*
Match #30: SHIMMER Title: MsChif © vs. Sara Del Rey (Rising Above 2008 – 11/22/08)
They start brawling around ringside. Del Rey gets sent into the barricade. They exchange chops. MsChif applies an octopus hold. Del Rey backbreakers out of the hold and takes over. MsChif contorts her body to escape a boston crab. Del Rey catches her with a kick to the head and connects with a short-arm lariat. MsChif hits a swinging neckbreaker but falls victim to a chokeslam. She recovers with a spinning backfist. Del Rey synchs in a sick guillotine choke and drives MsChif into the middle turnbuckle. Del Rey hits a german suplex. MsChif hits Code Green for a nearfall. They trade pin attempts to no avail. MsChif whiffs on the mist. Del Rey connects with an axe kick. MsChif hits the Desecrator to retain her title at 9:16. This match had an aura about it as the current and former champion did battle. They really extenuated MsChif’s flexibility and played off of that well. The finishing stretch provided good action and this probably could have been better given a couple of more minutes. **¾
Match #31: Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong (Supercard of Honor V – 5/8/10)
The crowd chants negatively towards Bubba the Love Sponge. Kong lands a splash and the crowd is already buying a nearfall. She misses a corner charge and Del Rey starts targeting the left arm. Del Rey sends Kong to the floor with a kappou kick and whips her into the barricade. Kong returns the favor and the action goes back into the ring. Kong misses a middle rope splash and Del Rey locks in a cross armbreaker. The hold is broken when Kong makes it to the ropes. Del Rey is able to hit a german suplex for a nearfall. Chris Hero tosses her his loaded elbow pad. Del Rey connects with a roaring elbow for the win at 7:15. Commentary is quick to notice that Kong losing by knockout is ironic. The insane crowd heat definitely helped this match. This was also a good reintroduction for Kong that made me want to see more matches between Kong and Del Rey. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen too much in ROH. **½
Match #32: Sara Del Rey and Serena Deeb vs. Daizee Haze and Amazing Kong (Final Battle 2010 – 12/18/10)
Haze dropkicks Del Rey into the corner. She comes off the top rope with a hurricanrana. Deeb prevents Haze from tagging in Kong. Haze thesz presses Deeb and hits a senton. However, Del Rey and Deeb continually prevent her from tagging out. Haze hits a stunner out of the corner on Deeb and makes the tag. Kong splashes Del Rey and everyone buys that as a nearfall. Awesome. Kong hits the Implant Buster on Del Rey for a two count. Haze connects with the Heart Punch on Deeb and Kong adds a backfist. Del Rey kappou kicks Kong to the floor. Haze hits a code red on Del Rey, who answers with the Royal Butterfly for a nearfall. Del Rey follows with a piledriver, but Kong breaks up the pin attempt. Deeb spears Kong to a big pop. Del Rey hits another piledriver on Haze for the victory at 7:40. I liked the idea of Del Rey and Deeb doing whatever necessary to keep Kong out of the ring. This was fine for the time given and they did a good job of capturing the crowd’s interest down the stretch. **½
Match #33: Hiroyo Matsumoto and Ayumi Kurihara vs. Daizee Haze and Tomoka Nakagawa (Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter 2 – 4/2/11)
Matsumoto lands a crossbody onto the champions. Kurihara blocks a charge from Haze and applies an armbar in the ropes. Nakagawa spits water into Kurihara’s face and the champions work her over. She catches Nakagawa with a dropkick and makes the tag. Matsumoto hits a back suplex on Nakagawa and a chinbreaker on Haze. Kurihara connects with shotgun knees on Nakagawa and follows with a lungblower. She hits a backcracker on Haze and connects with a missile dropkick on Nakagawa. Kurihara hits a uranagi on Haze and Matsumoto adds a backdrop driver for a nearfall. Haze connects with the Heart Punch on Matsumoto and hits a tiger suplex to retain the titles at 7:38. This was an incredibly energetic sprint and the most fun I’ve had watching women’s wrestling in ROH in quite some time. Both SHIMMER showcase matches on this weekend were worthwhile and had a part in making these two WrestleMania weekend shows seem more special. **¾
Overall: A majority of the matches included on Women of Honor are SHIMMER showcase matches used to whet the appetite of anyone who might be interested in checking out the promotion. These matches normally did not receive enough time to stand out by themselves. They received just enough time for the participants to make a decent impression. Based on the thirty-three matches that ROH picked for this compilation, it was clear that this compilation didn’t need to be produced. The matches worth watching come way less often than they should for a compilation and I felt like I had seen some matchups (any combination of Haze/Del Rey/Lacey) too many times. You’d receive a better picture of what women’s wrestling can be by just picking up a few individual SHIMMER DVDs. Recommendation to avoid.
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