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What's the story?
The Ring Of Honor Twitter account recently announced that former WWE Superstar Emma, now known by her real name Tenille Dashwood, will be a part of the Women Of Honor tournament to crown their first-ever champion.
In case you didn't know...
Ring Of Honor had their first-ever women's match in 2002, but over the years would rarely use women in the promotion. In 2015, the Women Of Honor was launched by the ROH thanks to the Women's Evolution taking off in the WWE. They would have regular specials on their YouTube Channel all leading to this point where the women are a regular part of the company now.
The heart of the matter...
The addition of Dashwood completes the bracket of 16 women which can be seen below:
While Emma has the most star power of these 16 women, there are some familiar names in this tournament to fans of NXT and Impact Wrestling.
There is five-time Impact Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne (who would lose to Mandy Leon from this weekend's television episode), Deonna Purrazzo was featured on NXT and Impact several times, and there is Brandi Rhodes, the wife of Cody who was a former ring announcer in the WWE.
What's next?
This tournament will play out over the next several weeks on Ring Of Honor Television; which can be found on Sinclair stations or the Charge Network. In addition, HonorClub is set to launch soon as well and will be another way to catch ROH television.
Author's take...
I started following the company just before the Women of Honor started, so there is definitely a soft spot for Mandy Leon winning this as she's been with the company for a while and is very talented.
I'm not as familiar with the entire field like my Lost In The Midcard co-host Matt Black, so I spoke to him about his thoughts on a favorite and the dark horse. The right side of the bracket is easier to pick than the left, and he thinks that Tenille Dashwood will have an easy road.
As for the left side of the bracket, Kelly Klein hasn't been pinned or submitted in ROH in over two years, and he believes she'll be the winner of this tournament.
Matt also has Deonna Purrazzo and Mandy Leon as the dark horses, especially if Mandy defeats Klein in the second round.
