Maria Kanellis-Bennett is very proud to have Rok-C as the first-ever Ring of Honor Women's Champion.
It was a long summer in Ring of Honor as they held a tournament to determine the inaugural Ring of Honor Women's Champion. The tournament would be won by Rok-C, who defeated Miranda Alize in the finals at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2021.
Now, Maria is explaining why she believes Rok-C is the perfect champion and why she would put her up against any other champion in wrestling today.
“It was a long time coming,” Maria stated on the most recent Battleground Podcast. “Last year, there was supposed to be a tournament, and that didn't happen. So there were a lot of women that were in the tournament that had been suggested to participate in it last year. So there was so much anticipation for the women that were involved in it. I really feel as if, when it was down to the final two, everybody was in agreement that those were the right final two and it was amazing, because, along the way, so many people had their predictions, you know, it's gonna be this person, it's gonna be that person. But at the end of the day, I think that match was the best match of the night and I think that Rok-C is the best champion for the job.
“She's mature beyond her years. I think that's the one thing that people are really going to start to see, especially as she goes out and does interviews, is she's got a really good head on her shoulders. I met her mother, I met her father, and they are wonderful individuals and it was so funny talking to her mom, because her mom told me, ‘Yeah, she may be a superstar when she's out there in the world. But when she's home, she's just Rock. She’s just my daughter and I think that's great. I mean, that's how my parents always were with me. I started at 22 and I think having that grounding force is really important in a young champion.”
Continuing on, Maria would say that she would put Roxy up against anybody but believe that she would have a little bit of trouble with IMPACT Knockouts Champion, Deonna Purrazzo, due to their similar temperaments.
“I said that in Ring of Honor, there is no door. You know, everybody talks about there being some forbidden door. But there is no door here. We will work with whoever, we have worked with whoever, most people that are in the industry today started in Ring of Honor. So for us, it's more of a, ‘if you want to compete with the best, you come here to do it.’ Whether that's the best of the future, the best of the past, the best that ever will be, they all came from here. So I think that you know, I'm open to it.
“I've talked to Deonna, I've talked to Thunder Rosa, for us, it's no question. I mean, I feel good about our champ. So I put our champ up against anyone, the only person that I think she might have a little bit of difficulty with is Deonna, and just for the simple fact that Deonna and Rok-C have such similar temperaments in the ring, that I find that would be an incredible match. They have wrestled before in another company. I think they've actually wrestled twice before. So you know, now that it's been a bit of time between those last two matches, it would be interesting to see the rematch, for sure.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Maria spoke about how she handles business in Ring of Honor without micromanaging. Learn more here.
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