Women of Honor

Women of Honor is a term used by Ring of Honor (ROH) to refer to its women's division and to the promotion's female talent. The term is applied universally to wrestlers, backstage interviewers, and managers/valets.

Early years and partnership with Shimmer (2002–2011)
ROH had its first women's match on June 22, 2002, at its Road to the Title show; it saw Sumie Sakai defeat Simply Luscious. Women's wrestling was sporadically featured in ROH since the match. During the 2000s, ROH featured female wrestlers like Sara Del Rey, Daizee Haze, Serena Deeb, MsChif, Amazing Kong, Ashley Lane, Nevaeh, Allison Danger, Lacey, Taeler Hendrix, Mercedes Martinez and others on shows, later releasing a DVD featuring the best of its women's division. Some of women's matches were also featured on ROH's television program on HDNet but ROH did not consistently feature women's matches until 2015.

ROH also had a partnership with women's professional wrestling promotion Shimmer Women Athletes, with the Shimmer Championship and Shimmer Tag Team Championship being defended on several ROH shows – becoming the first women's titles to be featured in ROH.

End of partnership with Shimmer (2011–2015)
From years 2011 to 2015, ROH's female talent primarily consisted of female valets and interviewers although some female workers and wrestlers would compete in matches in the promotion. During this time period women of ROH managed and accompanied male stars such as Michael Elgin, Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, Truth Martini, R.D. Evans, Moose, Cedric Alexander, Jay Lethal & Prince Nana and managed and were a part of stables such as The Kingdom, The House of Truth, Team RnB and The Briscoe Brothers.

For example on February 26, 2011, at ROH 9th Anniversary Show, Sara Del Ray defeated MsChif with Shane Hagadorn in Sara's corner as a male valet / ally.



During this time period there was no such thing as a Women's Championship that was properly owned by Ring of Honor such as the ROH Women's World Championship and the firstly ROH Women of Honor World Championship, during this time period ERA the women of ROH had to work with just brond & beauty with barley even a Shimmer Championship to compete for.

Also during that time period other ROH Girls such as Maria Kanellis, Sara Del Ray, Allysin Kay, Jenny Rose, Athena Reese, Scarlett Bordeaux, Mandy Leon, Mia Yim, Cherry Bomb, MsChif, Barbi Hayden, Taeler Hendrix, Seleziya Sparx, Veda Scott, Leah Von Dutch, Tara, ODB, Kasey Ray, Jessie Brooks and probably more spent there time wrestling in rare once in a life time (especially seen on television) ROH Women of Honor matches and in mix tag team matches against each other, interviewing talent, interviewing backstage talent, ring announcing, side ring bell ringing and managing and valeting male talent of the company.

For example during year 2011 Mia Yim was introduced to Ring of Honor Wrestling by Prince Nana as Princess Mia Yim afterwards from that point on she went on to valet his male stable alliance alongside him in Ring of Honor. Around that time she also had a match against Sara Del Ray in Ring of Honor Wrestling but was not successful.



For another factual example during those years, during year 2013 Athena Reese was a part of a ROH stable by the name of Team RnB alongside another ROH wrestler by the name of A. C. H. weeks later A.C.H. ran into another ROH wrestler by the name of TaDarius Thomas and then the two made an alliance tag team stable name by the name of Adrenaline RUSH that primarily consisted of A.C.H. and TaDarius Thomas only from that point on.

After that the three had a six-mix tag team match against MsChif, B. J. Whitmer, and Michael Elgin but were not successful.

For an even further factual example, on August 15, 2014, at ROH Field of Honor of 2014 Jay Lethal defeated Matt Taven for the ROH World Television Championship with Seleziya aka Seleziya Sparx and Truth Martini in Jay Lethal's corner. Seleziya was Jay Lethal's female valet alongside his then male valet Truth Martini. Shortly after that Taeler Hendrix returned to ROH and became Jay Lethal's female valet replacing Seleziya Sparx but the two ladies never at the same time valeted Jay Lethal. (They were known as The House of Truth. Scarlett Bordeaux was a part of the stable before both ladies.)

Rebuilding the women's division (2015–2016)
The popularity of women in Ring of Honor has resulted in Ring of Honor taping a pilot for a standalone Women of Honor program. Ring of Honor has also made numerous Women of Honor branded merchandise available for purchase. The pilot aired as a Women of Honor-branded television special the weekend of June 25, 2016 and its success led to a Women of Honor taping that is available on DVD.

Women of Honor (2015; 2016–present)
At its founding, ROH had a partnership with the female exclusive promotion Shimmer Women Athletes (Shimmer), with their top championship - the Shimmer Championship - being defended at ROH events, essentially serving as ROH's de facto women's title in the promotion's early years.

Currently, Ring of Honor regularly airs and promotes their Women of Honor Wednesday matches (Also known as Women Division Wednesday matches ) on their YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter platforms.

These Women of Honor matches where presented by Ian Riccaboni. Which we're joined by ROH female talent such as Taeler Hendrix, Mandy Leon, Veda Scott, Deonna Purrazzo, Hania the Howling Huntress, Sumie Sakai, Havok and more ROH Women of Honor to compete in these reinstated Women of Honor matches since the division had been reinstated as a permanent Women of Honor division during years 2015 and 2016.

In February 2017, ROH partnered with Japanese women's only wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom for a Women of Honor tryout camp. On December 5, 2017 at Final Battle, Riccaboni introduced and announced ROH's creation of its own women's title called the ROH Women of Honor Championship, which would later be named the Women of Honor World Championship, as a tournament for the championship was set to start on January 20, 2018. On April 7, 2018 at Supercard of Honor XII, Sumie Sakai defeated Kelly Klein in the tournament final to become the inaugural champion. Along with Sumie Sakai, there have been four champions overall, shared between Angelina Love, Mayu Iwatani and Kelly Klein, who held the title in a record setting three-time.



On January 1, 2020, ROH deactivated the Women of Honor World Champion, held at the time by Kelly Klein, due to the former champion deciding not to renew her contract with the promotion amidst disagreements between the two parties, leading into Klein filling a lawsuit against the company over a year later in early 2021. As such, a new championship was to be created for the division, the ROH Women's World Championship. The winner was originally planned to be crowned in a 16-woman Tournament at Quest For Gold, but that tournament, as well as the Women of Honor division as a whole, was put on hold due to the event being cancelled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the ROH 19th Anniversary Show on March 26, 2021, Maria Kanellis made her on-screen return to the promotion and announced a new tournament to crown a new ROH Women's World Champion, the first since the retirement of the Women of Honor World Championship at the beginning of 2020. The tournament will take place in summer 2021, with a number of the matches to be showcased on ROH TV. The division also seemingly dropped using the 'Women of Honor' name as a month later, 'Women's Division Wednesdays' returned on ROH's official YouTube channel starting on April 28, 2021.

As of January 1, 2020, ROH deactivated the ROH Women of Honor World Championship (due to contractual issues with reigning champion Kelly Klein), and announced the creation of a brand new championship for the division, the ROH Women's World Championship. The winner was originally planned to be crowned in a 16-woman Tournament at Quest For Gold, but had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After ROH resumed operations following a five-month pandemic related hiatus, a new 15-woman tournament (with one participant - Angelina Love - getting a first round bye due to Vita VonStarr being removed from the tournament via other personal issues with Maria Kanellis) was announced at Best in the World that took place beginning on July 31, 2021, and tournament final which Rok-C won to become the inaugural ROH Women's World Champion on September 12, 2021, at Death Before Dishonor XVIII.



On December 16, 2023 of Ring of Honor's tapings Tony Khan unveiled a new ROH Women's title named the ROH Women's World Television Championship. On April 5, 2024 at ROH pay-per-view Supercard of Honor of year 2024 Billie Starkz defeated Queen Aminata to become the inaugural ROH Women's World Television Championship holder.

Current champions
The following list shows the Women of Honor that are currently holding all active Women of Honor championships in Ring of Honor Wrestling.

Qualifying matches

 * Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings – June 29 and June 30 (2300 Arena – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Tournament bracket
1 Participants in the original tournament included: Ashley Vox, Gia Scott, Heather Monroe, Jenny Rose, Katarina, Kellyanne, Lindsay Snow, Maria Manic, Session Moth Martina, and Tasha Steelz. 2 Brandi Lauren and Laynie Luck were named as alternates. 3 Spot was originally meant for Vita VonStarr, but her interference in matches involving The Righteous got her removed. 4 Allie Recks was slated to take VonStarr's place in the tournament, but a knee injury kept her from competing. 5 Chelsea Green was slated to take VonStarr's place in the tournament, but a broken wrist kept her from competing. 6 Love defeated Quinn McKay on the May 8 ROH Wrestling episode to earn a bye.

Tournament bracket
1 Originally scheduled participant Lady Frost was on tour in Mexico when the tournament began, so she was removed.

Inaugural championship holders
The following list shows the first ever Ring of Honor and partnered with Ring of Honor Shimmer Women Athletes Women's Championship winners and the years that the titles were first ever won by Women of Ring of Honor in Ring of Honor history.

ROH 5 Count: Women of Honor
The following list shows the Top 5 ROH 5 Count Women of Honor Trailblazers and the Top 5 ROH 5 Count Women of Honor Competitors in all of Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) history.