ROH: Women's Television Championship Final Set for Supercard of Honor

And then there were two.

Sixteen wrestlers competed for the opportunity to be the inaugural ROH Women's Television Champion. Episode 56 kicked off with the first semi-final match. Billie Starkz faced former ROH Women's Champion, Mercedes Martinez. The veteran didn't go easy on the newcomer and nearly bested, but in the end, Starkz got the win.

The following match was the second semi-final match. Queen Aminata took on Red Velvet. Both women have been back with a vengeance since returning from their respective injuries. The women had a hard hitting match, including Red Velvet spearing Aminata on the apron. Aminata hit Red Velvet with a vicious headbutt to get the victory.

After their matches, it was finally announced that the tournament final is set for Supercard of Honor. This is the third official match for the event. The show will stream exclusively on Honor Club.

In addition to the tournament matches, there were two other women's matches. Hikaru Shida wrestled Rachael Ellering. It was the latter's first match since being injured in the tournament's first round against Leyla Hirsch. Last week, Shida challenged ATHENA for the ROH Women's Champion at Supercard. In her Honor Club debut, Shida picked up the win.

The "Fallen Goddess" made her way to the bottom of the ramp to watch her Supercard opponent in action. During the match, Shida and Ellering were on the outside. Shida made the champion fall out of her chair. An angry ATHENA asked if she thought it was funny and Shida replied that it was.

Backstage Lexy Nair was celebrating Starkz's big win. Nair also put over Shida, the former three-time AEW Women's Champion. ATHENA was clearly bothered by Shida's actions towards her in the match and by Nair's exuberance over their match.

Tony Khan recently announced a relationship with the Japanese women's promotion, STARDOM. The first woman to represent STARDOM in this partnership was Mina Shirakawa. She is the co-leader of Empress Nexus Venus. She has held several titles in STARDOM, including the Goddess of STARDOM Championship with Mariah May.

Not only did Shirakawa make her Honor Club debut, but so did Anna Jay. Jay held her own, but was no match for the experience and talent of Shirakawa.

Besides the in-ring storytelling, there was movement in the other women's storylines. Kiera Hogan was a first round participant in the tournament. She made her intentions knows that she is stepping up to be the first challenger for whomever wins the tv title. Hogan also wants to face Diamanté again since she knocked her out of the tournament.

Diamanté believes that she and Martinez are the first in line to be challengers for the new champion. She also accepted Hogan's challenge and they will have a rematch next week.

Thursday's episode was a great display of the ROH women's division. They highlighted multiple women and moved stories forward. The segment with ATHENA showed that she is at least a bit concerned about Shida, especially since Shida once beat ATHENA in SHIMMER a decade ago. While the stories with other women are centering on the television championship, what if Shida wins? Who would step up to face her?

Another very real possibility is Starkz winning her first championship in ROH and ATHENA losing her title. That changes the dynamics of their relationship and the relationship of "The Family". If your #ForeverChampion is no more, will she finally move to the main roster?

ROH has a solid women's division and it should continue to build on the mometum from tonight's show. With time and effort, they could have a great division.