WOH Championship Tournament Round 1 Review: Karen Q vs Brandi Rhodes
Brandi Rhodes and Karen Q's pre-match promos blew away most everyone else's I saw to this point. After years on the mic, it seems like it's second nature to Brandi.
To start the match, Brandi was sticking to what she did well, although she could have stood to turn her hips with her kicks. Karen sells great for her before getting aggressive. There's a lot of taunting on Karen's side, and then the commentary has to cover for a handspring forearm that doesn't hit as hard as maybe it should have.
Karen has nice offense that includes an exploder suplex and rubbing Brandi's face in the mat. Brandi is playing babyface in peril, but we can't really see any emotion or pain on her face because of her hair. A Code Red doens't hit its mark for Brandi, but ended up being kind of cool in error anyway. Karen gets a two count on a front roll and a standing moonsault before eating canvas on a frog splash attempt.
Brandi isn't taking it easy on the chops, and I popped a little bit for the Bionic Elbow followed by a slingblade. Brandi feigns an ankle injury and Karen gets rolled up.
Match rating: 4.5/10
This was another case of ROH having someone who wasn't ready in the ring go over someone who was. Right now Brandi has name value and can wear a lot of hats, and it doesn't really hurt Karen Q. Karen was a big part of holding this match together, which wasn't bad at all and was galaxies beyond Brandi's with Stella Grey.
10- Perfect, 9- Excellent, 8- Great, 7- Good, 6- Above Average, 5- Average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
