Tenille Dashwood vs. Sumie Sakai ROH Death Before Dishonor 3 Takeaways

Tenille Dashwood and Sumie Sakai squared off for the second time in Women of Honor, as Sakai’s WOH Championship was on the line last night at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2018.

Since joining ROH Wrestling’s Women of Honor division, Tenille Dashwood has increased the profile of women’s wrestling in the company. Her match with Sumie Sakai in the semifinals of the WOH Tournament stands today as one of the best matches in the history of the division, despite the fact that it didn’t get as much recognition as expected.

Dashwood and Sakai put together a similarly solid match at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2018. It was a hard-fought battle, but Dashwood’s right upper-arm injury gave Sakai a distinct advantage. We saw the most ruthless version of Sakai yet in this match, as she displayed a new level of focus in order to defeat her strongest challenger for the Women of Honor Championship.

Below are three takeaways from the match, which was one of the highlights of ROH’s DBD show.

1. The Women Of Honor Showed They Have Earned Lengthy Matches On PPV

ROH has been criticized heavily by wrestling fans for failing to showcase its talent in the Women of Honor division. Despite previously being one of WWE’s best women’s wrestlers, I think Death Before Dishonor was the first time Dashwood featured on the main card of one of ROH’s major shows. Recall that her match against Sakai, in addition to Kelly Klein’s semifinals battle with Mayu Iwatani, in April was on the pre-show of Supercard of Honor XII.

Sakai vs. Dashwood went for 12:30, as per Fightful.com’s Andrew Thompson, meaning that the two received more time than Punishment Martinez vs. Chris Sabin and Kenny King vs. Jushin Thunder Liger.

Given that Dashwood vs. Sakai was one of the better matches on the card, Fightful.com’s Sean Ross Sapp rated it as the third-best match of the night, they showed Ring of Honor and the fans that they have earned matches on the card that exceed 10 minutes and approach 15.

Honestly, I came away impressed with Sakai, and this may have been the best performance I’ve seen from her. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that Dashwood is one of the best women’s wrestlers around, but the extra edge I saw from Sakai last night made the difference.

The Women of Honor Title has a chance to be a critical part of this promotion, and it’s about time ROH treated it as such. There’s still room for improvement, as fans will point out that if an ROH PPV does have a women’s match, it usually has just one. Showcasing other wrestlers beyond the title match would be beneficial, but at least giving the main title a solid, 10-15 minute match is an encouraging starting point for a division that must grow going into 2019.