Madison Rayne Sees ‘Star Quality’ In Brandi Rhodes
Madison Rayne is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the world, and she recently signed a one-year deal with ROH to become one of the major players in a “Women of Honor” division that includes standouts like Tenille Dashwood and Kelly Klein.
Since returning to the ring this summer as a member of Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Division, Madison Rayne has had quite the year. She competed in the Mae Young Classic 2, losing to the equally formidable and experienced Mercedes Martinez in the first round, and competed at Slammiversary for the Knockouts Championship against “The Undead Bride” Su Yung.
On the same weekend as her match against Yung, Rayne taped a Women of Honor Championship match for Ring of Honor Television against Sumie Sakai, whose reign as the inaugural WOH champ stands at over 200 days (and counting).
Rayne signed a one-year deal with ROH in mid-September, ending speculation that she could join WWE after the Mae Young Classic tapings. In a recent interview with CBS Pittsburgh’s Chuck Carroll, Rayne explained why she wasn’t able to sign with WWE and chose to wrestle with Ring of Honor instead.
She also talked more about the upcoming competition, with praise for wrestlers like Tenille Dashwood and Sakai, whom she’s already faced. In addition to Dashwood, another high-profile competitor whom Rayne hasn’t faced yet is Brandi Rhodes, and “The Queen Bee” offered up some high praise for the “Bullet Queen”.
"“But there’s just something about Brandi. She’s this really hungry, not up-and-comer, because she’s been around the wrestling business for a long time. There’s this star quality about Brandi, and it makes me excited as a fan to watch her grow and evolve and change. As a competitor, she’s somebody that I really want to get in there with and I want to test her, but I also kind of want to test myself against somebody who’s so young and hungry into being in the ring.”"
Brandi Rhodes, who has been wrestling since 2011, showed her toughness this year by finishing a match with a broken clavicle (in two places) and making her in-ring return in September at the ROH TV tapings.
While Rayne and Rhodes have never faced off in head-to-head competition, the two were on the same side of a six-woman tag match, joining forces with Jenny Rose to take on the victorious powerhouse trio of Deonna Purrazzo, Sakai, and Dashwood at ROH Masters of the Craft.
Rhodes has been steadily improving her craft since first wrestling in the Women of Honor division last summer, and a match against the slick, technically proficient Rayne would be an exciting one. There’s no doubt that Rhodes is an adept entertainer and an above-average athlete, and it’s great to hear that Rayne has pinpointed her as someone she’d like to face.
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The fact that she sees “star quality” in Rhodes is noteworthy (and hints at Rhodes’s upside), and the excitement Rayne has for facing Rhodes is a reminder that “The Queen Bee” will have plenty to achieve in WOH. Rayne is here to help elevate talent in this division, which is exactly what she can do in the ring with Rhodes.