WWE/ROH News: Former WWE Women's Wrestler has joined Ring of Honor

What’s the story?

Ring of Honor had a surprise debut from a former WWE star during their Honor Reigns Supreme event on Friday night when former WWE women's star Emma made her surprise debut.

In case you didn’t know…

Emma joined WWE developmental back in 2011 and was one of the first women to be pushed in NXT when the show was revamped to a developmental TV show. She made her main roster debut in January 2014 where she was expected to get a big push as a babyface, but her popular NXT 'fun-bad dancer' gimmick failed to get over with the casual WWE fans and she was eventually used as a heel who was mostly putting other over.

She seemed to be gaining a little momentum last summer but was then surprisingly released by WWE in October, over what was believed to be due to some frustration Tweets from over the previous year.

The heart of the matter

Emma debuted for Ring of Honor, under her real name, Tenille Dashwood, on Friday, February 9, 2018. Tenille announced she would be joining the 16-woman, single-elimination style tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Women of Honor Champion. Tenille will be joining Brandi Rhodes, Jessie Brooks, Karen Q, Kelly Klein, Madison Rayne, Mandy Leon, Deonna Purrazzo, Holidead, Sumie Sakai, Jenny Rose, Stacy Shadows, HZK, Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, and Mayu Iwatani.

What’s next?

Now that all 16 competitors have been revealed, the tournament will begin imminently. It is currently unknown what kind of contract Tenille has signed, but since ROH don't have much of a women's roster yet, one could only assume she has signed a contract with the company. We will have more details on that situation when made available.

Author’s Take

I am more than thrilled for Tenille. I had strongly believed for years that she was not only the most under-utilized women's wrestler in WWE before her firing, but was the most under-utilized wrestler in WWE full stop. I really hope Tenille has signed a long-term deal with Ring of Honor and does well in the tournament. I already have her pegged out as my favorite to win the Championship.