Ian Riccaboni and Bobby Cruise are both set to be at tonight’s Impact Hard to Kill event.
Impact announced on social media today that Riccaboni will call the ROH World title match between champion Jonathan Gresham and Chris Sabin. Cruise, the long time ring announcer for Ring of Honor, will be the ring announcer for the match.
“Hello @IMPACTWRESTLING! Thrilled to announce the @ringofhonor World Title Bout Tonight! #HardToKill,” Riccaboni wrote on Twitter.
Ring of Honor has gone under a hiatus since the Final Battle event that took place on December 11, with the company saying they will be back by April. Gresham, who won the ROH World title at Final Battle, has defended it against the likes of AJ Gray and Adam Priest in the last month. He is scheduled to defend the title against Blake Christian at GCW’s event at the Hammerstein Ballroom on January 23.
Impact Hard to Kill will take place live tonight at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas.
A documentary on ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament is set to premiere this month.
During Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Bobby Cruise’s appearance on the latest episode of the ROH Strong podcast, it was announced that a documentary on last year’s ROH Women’s World Championship tournament will premiere on ROH TV the weekend of Saturday, January 15. Kanellis-Bennett said the documentary will also be uploaded to ROH’s YouTube channel.
The documentary will give an inside look at how the participants prepared for the Women’s title tournament, along with what led them to pro wrestling and what has made them the performers they are today.
The tournament concluded with Rok-C defeating Miranda Alize in the finals at Death Before Dishonor last September. In winning the tournament, Rok-C became the first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion. The title replaced the old Women of Honor World Championship.
ROH is currently on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022 as it looks to “reimagine” the company. Rok-C retained her ROH Women’s World title against Willow Nightingale at Final Battle in December. After that match, Deonna Purrazzo appeared and set up a matchup against Rok-C that will take place on the Thursday, January 13 episode of Impact Wrestling.
Kanellis-Bennett also teased on the ROH Strong podcast that she has a couple more announcements that will be coming soon. “I have one other big announcement that I can’t reveal right now,” Kanellis-Bennett said. “But look for that in January. And then there is going to be a third announcement that Bobby [Cruise] and I will have together at some point. But that’s about all the information that I’m willing to give on my end [laughs].”
Kanellis-Bennett and Cruise have worked together to book the ROH women’s division.
Jonathan Gresham will put his ROH World Championship on the line at the debut show for his Terminus promotion.
Terminus has announced that Gresham will defend his ROH World Championship against Josh Alexander in a Pure Rules match at their debut show on Sunday, January 16. The event is taking place at the Kroc Center in Atlanta.
With Gresham and Bandido each staking a claim to being the true ROH World Champion, this is the second ROH World title match that’s set for Terminus. Bandido will defend his version of the title against Baron Black at the January 16 show.
Gresham was scheduled to challenge Bandido for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle earlier this month, but Bandido had to be pulled from the show due to testing positive for COVID-19. Gresham instead defeated Jay Lethal in an ROH World Championship match in the main event of the pay-per-view. Gresham was awarded the original ROH World title belt.
ROH is currently on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022.
Before the Terminus event, Gresham will defend his ROH World title against Chris Sabin at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill PPV on Saturday, January 8. He’s also set to defend the title against Blake Christian at The Wrld on GCW on Sunday, January 23.
Here’s the updated card for Terminus’ debut show:
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Josh Alexander
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Baron Black
Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty
Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Kiera Hogan
Moose vs. Alex Coughlin
Liiza Hall vs. Janai Kai
Terminal eliminator match: JDX vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest
Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi vs. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys
Quinn McKay joined the broadcast from the holiday-decorated ROH Studio and wished the viewers Happy Holidays. McKay then ran down the card for the show, which will feature the annual Christmas surprise twelve man tag, as well as an ROH Women’s Championship match between current champion Rok-C and Holidead.
A special vignette aired showing Josh Woods and Brian Johnson opening special “presents” that featured the names of their respective teammates. Although the names weren’t revealed, Woods was delighted with his team while Johnson was not.
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defeated Holidead in a title match (13:30)
This was a good title match between two competitors that seemed to match up very well.
Holidead tried to use her size advantage to control the champion throughout the beginning stage of the match, but Rok-C read the room and fended it off well. When Holidead went to the outside, Rok-C attempted a dive but was stopped dead in her tracks when Holidead caught her and slammed her into the turnbuckle.
After a short commercial break, Holidead started to lose her grip on the match. Rok-C hit a knee to the face, and followed it up shortly after with a pair of double knees to the rib area of Holidead. Holidead went on to respond with a swing out flatliner that warranted a near fall, but Rok-C would deliver a running knee shortly after.
In the final stages of the match, both women continued to trade big moves. Holidead hit a backbreaker that resulted in the closest near fall of the match, but Rok-C was able to find that final wind and hit her modified Code Red shortly after for the win.
Dalton Castle had a backstage vignette celebrating Christmas with Dak Draper and his “boys”. Things went awry quickly and Draper started throwing things around.
Christmas Wildcard Twelve Man Tag Team Match: Team Woods (Bandido, Jay Briscoe, Josh Woods, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven & Silas Young) defeated Team Johnson (Brian Johnson, Flip Gordon, Homicide, Kenny King, Rey Horus & Rhett Titus) (20:45)
This was a blast as always.
Homicide and Jay Briscoe locked up as the tags began to roll in. Woods and Titus got a nice sequence in on the mat, with Woods heavily targeting the arm and scoring a few near falls out of it.
After a commercial break, Flip Gordon and Matt Taven became the legal men. They had a small back and forth before the focus shifted to a face off between Rey Horus and Bandido.
Everybody else included in the match hopped off the apron and let the two luchadors do their own thing. Bandido was the first to strike, springing off the ropes and jumping over Horus. They traded a few hurricanranas before coming to a stalemate — which was applauded by their respective teammates.
King and Mark Briscoe began to tee off on one another shortly after, which led to Titus and Jay Briscoe entering the ring. The commentary team sold the “nostalgia” aspect of the showdown, as the history between the two teams dates back to 2009.
The match fell apart at this point, with everybody in sight hitting a big dive to the outside onto various opponents. Flip Gordon rushed to the commentary booth and began to chat up a storm, before realizing he was still in the match and making a massive dive off the stage.
The final moments of the match saw Brian Johnson try to roll up Mark Briscoe with a handful of tights. After the fall was unsuccessful, Briscoe scolded Johnson and told him to “be a man”. This led to both men teeing off on each other with forearms, but Jay Briscoe eventually came in and helped his brother. The duo scored the win for their team after a Doomsday Device on Johnson.
Everybody in the match celebrated in the ring as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts: This was a great sendoff show for this era of Ring Of Honor.
Thanks to all that have kept up with my weekly ROH recaps for the past 16 months. Although I’m not sure what the future holds for both me and the supposed return of ROH in April, I appreciate anybody that has stuck around along the way.
Jonathan Gresham and Bandido appear to each be staking a claim to being the true ROH World Champion.
It was announced on Friday that Bandido will defend his version of the ROH World Championship against Baron Black at Terminus’ debut show on Sunday, January 16. Terminus is Gresham and Black’s promotion. Its theme is “Modern Age Grappling.”
Gresham was supposed to challenge Bandido for the ROH World title in the main event of ROH’s “End of an Era” Final Battle pay-per-view earlier this month. But with Bandido having to be pulled from the show due to testing positive for COVID-19, Gresham instead faced Jay Lethal in a match for the original ROH World title belt. Gresham defeated Lethal to become champion.
Gresham’s first defense of his title belt took place in GCW last Friday. He retained against AJ Gray in a Pure Rules match. Gresham will put his title on the line against Chris Sabin at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view on Saturday, January 8. Gresham is also set to defend his title against Blake Christian at The Wrld on GCW at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Sunday, January 23.
After Bandido posted a picture with his ROH World Championship yesterday, Gresham responded by tweeting a picture with his own title belt. Gresham called himself the “ROH World Pure Champion” and said he’d see Bandido at Terminus.
ROH will be on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022 to “reimagine” the promotion.
Terminus’ debut show is being held at the Kroc Center in Atlanta. Gresham will be in action at the event, but his match has yet to be announced. Here’s the updated card:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Baron Black
Jay Lethal vs. Lee Moriarty
Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace defends against Kiera Hogan
Moose vs. Alex Coughlin
Liiza Hall vs. Janai Kai
Terminal eliminator match: JDX vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Invictus Khash vs. Adam Priest
Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi vs. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys
Quinn McKay welcomed the audience to the show from her usual spot in the ROH studio. McKay revealed that this week’s episode is a “Top Prospect” special. Some of the rising stars in the company will be in action, and the two most recent winners of the Top Prospect tournament will face off in singles action as ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods takes on Dak Draper in the main event.
Rayo defeated Joe Keys, Adrian Soriano, and Eric Martin in a four-way match (7:57)
Adrian Soriano was on a different level early on in the match, hitting a combination of moves on all of his opponents. After downing Rayo with a great standing dropkick, Soriano was stopped dead in his tracks by Joe Keys, who executed a few German suplexes.
Eric Martin ran in and tried to stop the momentum of Keys, but he was met with another German suplex. Keys was in control of the match headed into a commercial break.
Rayo nailed Soriano with a butterfly backbreaker as the bout returned from commercial. Rayo tried to capitalize by going to the top rope, but Soriano met him up there and was able to hit a superplex. Keys found his way back in the match — but before he could do anything of substance, he was shoved into the corner post by Soriano.
Soriano and Keys kept focusing strictly on each other, while Rayo and Martin were more focused on winning the match. Martin tried for a spinebuster, but Rayo reversed the move and hit a standing kick to Martin’s face. Rayo followed it up with a springboard DDT, then a springboard elbow drop that was able to secure him the victory.
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Matt Makowski (w/ Rocco) defeated Dante Caballero (12:06)
Matt Makowski took Dante Caballero to the mat with a headlock early on, focusing on that area heavily. Caballero virtually got no offense in on Makowski into a commercial break.
Makowski was still in full control of the match when the break returned. He nailed Caballero with a few forearm strikes. But after Makowski celebrated for a split second, Caballero was able to pick him up and hit a very quick Falcon’s Arrow for a near fall.
Caballero used the momentum to his advantage, hitting a spinebuster on Makowski shortly after. After kicking out of Caballero’s pin attempt, Makowski took back control of the match and delivered a kick to the face of Caballero before locking in an armbar. Caballero submitted to the maneuver almost immediately.
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ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defeated Dak Draper to retain his title (13:45)
Although this was supposed to be a non-title match, Dalton Castle and Dak Draper convinced Josh Woods to put his Pure Championship on the line shortly before the bell rang.
Woods hoisted up Draper in a clutch, but Draper caught the top rope with his feet, therefore costing him his first rope break. Draper was frustrated, but he would turn his frustration into an ankle pick that took Woods off the mat. Woods escaped the hold rather quickly and began unloading on Draper in the corner with open hand strikes.
Draper responded to the offensive onslaught with a closed fist, which he was issued a warning for. A commercial break ensued shortly after.
Draper had control of the match when the break ended, but Woods changed course with a springboard knee strike that landed right between the eyes of Draper. Woods kept it going with a few running strikes in the corner. But when he attempted a pin, Draper got his foot on the rope.
Draper escaped an armbar and turned it into a powerbomb, but it wasn’t enough to score the victory. Draper attempted another move, but Woods reversed it and positioned Draper in the tombstone before launching him over his head with a suplex. Woods picked up the victory via pinfall shortly after.
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Next Week —
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Holidead
Christmas tag team match
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Final Thoughts —
Although these matches still fail to bring much of a purpose to the table, they were all still solid bouts that entertained me thoroughly. Woods vs. Draper was especially very good, and I’m excited to see what the two can do if they are brought back to ROH in the future.
Quinn McKay joined the show from the ROH studio and quickly ran down the card for tonight’s show, which includes two regular singles bouts — with one bout pitting Chelsea Green against Miranda Alize, and the other seeing EC3 take on Eli Isom. The opening contest, however, is a falls count anywhere match between Sledge and PCO.
Sledge defeated PCO in a Falls Count Anywhere match (14:59)
This was a fun, grueling way for PCO to end his ROH run.
Holidead joined commentary for this match.
Sledge jumped PCO from behind as the bell rang. PCO fell in the corner, which prompted Sledge to place a trash can on his head and perform a running kick to the head. The bout then spilled to the outside with the two giants slugging each other back and forth. Sledge slanted a ladder off the ring apron and back body dropped PCO onto it shortly before the first commercial break.
When the break returned, PCO positioned himself on the top rope and hit a frog splash for a two count. PCO, seemingly frustrated, returned to the top rope and attempted a PCO-sault, but was met with a pair of knees from Sledge.
Both guys rolled to the outside afterwards, with PCO taking control. PCO set up a table and clocked Sledge with a right forearm, which caused the “Metalhead Maniac” to fall right on the table. PCO took advantage of the situation and climbed to the top rope and performed an insane top rope senton onto Sledge.
After a short recovery period, both guys kept slugging it out around the barricaded areas. Sledge clocked PCO with a few chair shots before adjusting PCO into a sitting position on the barricade. Sledge then set up a chair, backed up, and ran full speed at his opponent — resulting in a float-over clothesline over the barricade.
The ending of the match came quickly when the two ended up on the stage. After a few moves here and there, Sledge hit an elevated DDT on PCO off the stage onto two tables and a barricade. Sledge then made the cover and scored the three count.
Miranda Alize defeated Chelsea Green (9:54)
Fun match, but Green came out of the match not looking good. The finish was rather baffling.
The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) joined the commentary booth for this bout.
The match started out with some rhythmic sequence between both women, with neither woman getting the upper hand. Alize went to the outside and made Green chase her around the ring for a good sixty seconds, before baiting her back to the ring apron in order to hit a dropkick.
After a commercial break, Chelsea Green nailed Alize with a middle dropkick in the center of the ring. Green attempted a pin shortly after, but Alize kicked out at two. Green was firmly in the driver’s seat of the match, but the Allure ran down to ringside and distracted her as she had a single leg crab cinched in.
Green was easily distracted, which allowed Alize to attack her from behind. Alize called her shot and hit the drive-by knee strike shortly after — which scored her the win.
EC3 defeated Eli Isom (16:15)
A great main event showing here for both guys, especially Isom — who is one of my favorite babyfaces in wrestling.
Isom took EC3 to the mat immediately and locked in a head scissors, but was met with hard resistance, which broke the hold quickly. Both guys had their fair share of offense in the beginning stages, trading various types of submissions and working down certain body parts. The match turned to EC3 favor when Isom attempted a springboard clothesline, but was sent crashing to the mat after EC3 clipped the ropes.
EC3 continued his dominance on the outside after nailing Isom with a suplex on the arena floor. EC3 took way too much time in between moves as the two transitioned back in the ring, as Isom caught a second wind and began delivering a flurry of strikes. Isom delivered a sidewinder suplex shortly after, followed by a northern lights suplex.
Isom went to the top rope with all of the momentum in the world, allowing him to deliver a stunning crossbody to EC3 for another close near fall. Isom seemed like he was going to score a victory here, but EC3 snatched the control right back from Isom and delivered a double underhook facebuster out of nowhere. Shortly after, Isom submitted to EC3’s “The Promise” cross face submission.
Final Thoughts: From ROH’s standpoint, I’m not sure what the point of doing TV is at this point — but the wrestling was still very good.
One era ended and another began at tonight’s ROH Final Battle event, where four titles changed hands, including the ROH World Championship.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal to win the title after submitting Lethal with the octopus stretch. The entire locker room had emptied out prior to the finish. Jordynne Grace, Gresham’s wife, entered the ring as Gresham was presented with the old ROH World Championship and had his hand raised by former ROH owner Cary Silkin. The show closed with Gresham celebrating his first title win.
The main event for tonight’s pay-per-view was originally set to be ROH World Champion Bandido facing Gresham. However, the company announced two days prior to the show that Bandido had to pull out due to testing positive for COVID-19. As a result, Lethal, who is now signed to All Elite Wrestling, took Bandido’s place. It was announced during the first hour of Final Battle that the winner would be awarded the ROH World Championship.
The ROH Six-Man, Tag Team, and Television titles also changed hands.
Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, and O’Shay Edwards) to win the ROH Six-Man titles after Vincent hit Orange Sunshine on Edwards for the win. This marks the end of Shane Taylor Promotion’s run with the titles, having won them on the episode of Ring of Honor television that aired on February 10 of this year.
Rhett Titus won the ROH Television Championship, defeating Champion Dalton Castle, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match, pinning Young with a dropkick after he dodged a springboard splash. Castle had only won the title recently, defeating Dragon Lee on the episode of ROH TV that aired on November 21.
The Briscoes won their twelfth ROH World Tag Team Championship tonight, defeating OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett). After the match, the team cut a promo, saying they would take on any challengers. This led to the lights going out, and when they came on, AEW’s FTR appeared on the apron. Both teams soon engaged in a pull-apart brawl, eventually having to be separated.
AEW’s FTR came to Ring of Honor on Saturday night for a brawl with The Briscoes.
Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) to win the ROH Tag Team titles at Saturday’s Final Battle pay-per-view. After the match, The Briscoes said Final Battle may be the end of an era — but it’s not the end of The Briscoes. They challenged any team to step to them.
The lights then went out. When they came back on, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler were standing on the apron. They came into the ring, went face-to-face with The Briscoes, and then a brawl between the two teams broke out. The brawl was broken up by officials, with FTR then going after The Briscoes again.
The commentary team questioned where we’d be seeing The Briscoes vs. FTR take place. The two teams had been feuding on social media leading into FTR’s appearance at Final Battle.
AEW’s Tony Khan said on Busted Open Radio on Friday that AEW would be lending some support to ROH for Final Battle. That also included AEW’s Jay Lethal returning to ROH to face Jonathan Gresham for the ROH World Championship in the main event, along with video messages from other AEW stars who used to be part of ROH airing on the PPV. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were among those who sent video messages.
The Briscoes are now 12-time ROH Tag Team Champions.
FTR are the current Lucha Libre AAA Tag Team Champions.
Adam Scheer, the former Braun Strowman, made an appearance at tonight’s ROH Final Battle event.
Scheer attacked Eli Isom, Brian Johnson, and Dak Draper on tonight’s show along with two other people associated with EC3, one being the former Wesley Blake. The segment ended with EC3’s group carrying Isom, Johnson, and Draper to the back.
Brody King, Homicide, Tony Deppen, and Rocky Romero defeated EC3 and Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust, and Eli Isom on tonight’s show. EC3 brought Isom back to his feet started to cut a promo on corporate wrestling saying it was about wrestlers giving everything in the ring only to get nothing in return. Draper and Johnson came out and complained. EC3 said that this was a call to arms, which brought out Blake, another unidentified person, and eventually Scheer.
Scheer was released from WWE on June 2, with the company citing budget cuts as the reason for the release. He recently appeared on EC3’s Free the Narrative 2 event back in October, defeating EC3.
Saturday night’s “End of an Era” Final Battle pay-per-view included a surprise appearance by Deonna Purrazzo.
Purrazzo made her return to Ring of Honor after Rok-C retained the ROH Women’s World Championship against Willow Nightingale at Final Battle. Purrazzo issued a challenge to Rok-C for a winner-take-all title match.
Purrazzo came out to the ring at Final Battle with her AAA Reina de Reinas Championship belt. While confronting Rok-C, Purrazzo said she wants the ROH Women’s World title. Purrazzo said that, when she defeats Mickie James for the Knockouts Championship at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view, she’s challenging Rok-C to face her in a winner-take-all title match.
Purrazzo implied that the match would be taking place in Impact Wrestling. Rok-C accepted Purrazzo’s challenge and shook her hand.
Hard to Kill is taking place in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, January 8.
Purrazzo is a two-time Impact Knockouts Champion. She won the Reina de Reinas title from Faby Apache at Lucha Libre AAA’s Triplemania XXIX this August.
Rok-C became the inaugural ROH Women’s World Champion by defeating Miranda Alize in the finals of a tournament at Death Before Dishonor this September. The title replaced the old Women of Honor Championship.
Final Battle was the final live ROH event before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH has said that it will be taking that time to “reimagine” the company. ROH talent contracts aren’t being renewed after Final Battle.
Tonight marks the end of an era for Ring of Honor.
Final Battle 2021 will be held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore tonight. It’s the final live ROH event before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH will be taking that time to “reimagine” the company, and talent won’t have their contracts renewed.
Bandido was scheduled to defend his ROH World Championship against Jonathan Gresham in the main event of the pay-per-view, but that won’t be happening due to Bandido testing positive for COVID-19. AEW’s Jay Lethal will now make his return to ROH for a match against Gresham.
The situation with the ROH World Championship will be addressed on Final Battle Hour One. That Hour One broadcast airs for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The main card then begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Five title matches have been made official for tonight. As part of a double main event with Gresham vs. Lethal, The OGK will put their ROH Tag Team titles on the line against The Briscoes.
Rok-C will defend her ROH Women’s Championship against Willow Nightingale, Josh Woods puts his Pure title up for grabs against Brian Johnson, Dalton Castle defends his TV title against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match, and Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend their ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch).
Also set for the show are: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King in a Fight Without Honor, Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom, Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus, Chelsea Green, Allysin Kay & Marti Belle vs. Angelina Love, Mandy Leon & Miranda Alize, and a wildcard 10-man tag match.
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Hour One —
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships: The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, & Dutch) (w/ Vita Von Starr) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, & O’Shay Edwards) (c) [10:57]
This was okay, but the botched bell put a dent in the match’s momentum.
Dutch and Moses started things, showing off some nice athleticism for their size. It quickly broke down into a six-way with Vincent and Kaun tagging in and meeting each other with simultaneous crossbodies. Kaun took down Vincent with a running back elbow and a gutbuster for two. Moses tagged back in, and he and Kaun landed a double team for another two. Vincent came back with a Side Effect for two of his own.
Bateman tagged in for his first action of the evening. Moses hit a Samoan drop for two, then tagged in Edwards., who hit a German and a Liger bomb for a near fall. Vincent sent Edwards to the floor and landed a tope but took a dive from Kaun. Bateman then came off the top with a big springboard onto the pile. Von Starr tried to get involved but was easily dispatched by Moses, then Dutch flew over the top with a flip dive onto everyone. Von Starr landed an Asai moonsault for good measure.
A powerbomb from Dutch followed by a Redrum from Vincent got a near fall. Edwards hit a top-rope moonsault on Bateman for two, but the bell rang in what looked to be some unfortunate miscommunication. We got a parade of big moves in the ring, then Vincent hit Orange Sunshine for the win.
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Jay Lethal was interviewed by Quinn McKay. He said it was a privilege and an honor to wrestle in the main event of Final Battle.
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It was made official that Gresham vs. Lethal would be for the original Ring of Honor World Championship.
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Rocky Romero was backstage with Quinn McKay. He said he was here representing New Japan Pro Wrestling and that he would be on commentary. VLNCE UNLTD walked up and Brody King recommended that Rocky get in the ring.
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The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) & Miranda Alize defeated Chelsea Green & The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) [6:39]
This was pretty rough, but I thought Alize was by far the most impressive member of the match.
Kay and Belle are the NWA and SHINE women’s tag team champions. Alize and Belle had a quick exchange before Kay and Leon tagged in. Green quickly entered the match but was taken down by Leon and the latter’s team isolated her in the corner. Alize landed a nice running knee into the corner and then a suplex for two. Love hit a Complete Shot on Green for two more.
Green eventually used evasive maneuvers to tag in Kay, who hit a sidewalk slam on Love. She and Belle hit Hex Marks The Spot on Leon for two, but Alize broke up the pin. We got a parade of big moves, concluded with Green landing a dive on all three opponents. Love cut off a dive from Belle, then Leon hit a pumphandle slam for the win.
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The Briscoes discussed their history in Ring of Honor.
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EC3 tried to cut a promo backstage, but then the Pure team from later on tonight walked up and said they were down a man, asking EC3 to fight with them. He accepted.
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Danhausen joined commentary for this match.
Flip Gordon, PJ Black, World Famous CB, & The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Max The Impaler, Sledge, Will Ferrara, Demonic Flamita, & LSG (w/ Amy Rose) [10:24]
This was all crowd-pleasing high spots to get everyone on the card.
Ferrara and CB started off with an extended technical exchange. Flamita and Flip tagged in with a display of acrobatics. They looked like they would shake hands, but Flamita flipped Flip the bird. LSG and Black tagged in, and LSG cradled Black for two. Max tagged themselves in and called for Milonas, who obliged, but Bruiser took out Max with a cheap shot. They traded strikes in the ring until Sledge tagged in to face off with Bruiser.
Sledge hit Bruiser with a Blue Thunder bomb, but then Black came in and took down Sledge with a thrust kick. We got our third parade of big moves in as many matches. Max and Milonas were the final two standing. Max cornered Milonas with a Vader-style forearm flurry and a corner spear. They hit another spear in the center of the ring, but then Bruiser pulled Max out of the ring and sent them into the barricade.
Milonas landed a crossbody on Black on the floor, then Flip landed a tope con giro. Bruiser climbed to the top but was taken out by Sledge, who hit a big-time Orihara moonsault onto the pile. CB wanted a dive but was cut off by Max, who suplexed him onto the pile. Flamita cut off a Black dive and looked to land a dive of his own, but he flipped off the crowd instead.
Bruiser picked up Flamita for a powerbomb, but the smaller man fought out. Flamita then landed a tornillo dive. Flip cut off an LSG springboard with a cutter, then he and Black hit a doomsday destroyer for the win.
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I normally wouldn’t include this on the report, but Riccaboni and Caprice gave an incredible impassioned speech imploring fans to buy the show that just has to be seen.
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ROH Final Battle Report —
A great, simple video package opened the show.
Dragon Lee defeated Rey Horus [11:21]
This was a great match from two of ROH’s most consistently excellent post-pandemic performers.
They performed a nice choreographed sequence early on until Lee surprised Horus with a tope out of nowhere. He dumped Horus over the barricade and drove Horus spine-first into the ring post before slamming him on the floor. Back in the ring, Horus got a flurry of offense but was immediately cut off with a spinebuster. Lee then locked on a half-crab, forcing Horus to fight to the ropes.
Lee went for the corner dropkick, but Horus landed a diving cazadora takeover and dropkicked Lee to the floor. Lee avoided a dive, but Horus kept the momentum up and re-directed with a great tope con giro onto Lee. Horus sent Lee into the turnbuckle with an overhead throw, then a single-leg dropkick got two.
Horus tried to keep up the attack but was cut off by Lee, who continued to target Horus’ back. They had a fighting spirit spot trading forearms in the center of the ring. Lee hit a snap German but ran into a discus forearm. He came back with a pump kick, but Horus won the exchange with a Spanish Fly.
Lee climbed the ropes, but Horus cut him off before he could attack. Horus hit the top-rope cazadora driver for a good near fall. Lee got the knees up on a twisting splash, but Horus countered again into a DDT for two. Lee powered Horus up into a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. He then hit the Incinerator for another close near fall.
A ripcord pump knee followed by an Incinerator to the back of Horus’ head was enough for Lee to win.
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Current IMPACT talent Eddie Edwards shared a video where he thanked Ring of Honor for giving him the chance to show what he could do inside the wrestling ring.
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Dak Draper joined commentary for this match.
ROH Television Championship four-way: Rhett Titus defeated Dalton Castle (c), Silas Young, and Joe Hendry [8:30]
This had some good action and a nice finish, but it was very much a two-in, two-out four-way style and the ref bump was contrived.
Castle immediately ran out to the crowd and celebrated. The remaining three fought it out before Castle and Young faced off in the ring. The former took Young down and then hit a nice overhead suplex and celebrated, allowing Titus to cover him for two. Titus avoided a dive from Young, but the latter redirected and took Titus out with a cannonball senton. He then hit the FYB and then the FYF on Castle, but Titus broke up the pin.
Hendry entered the fray and landed a big lariat. Titus caught a slingshot from Young and turned it into a bridging suplex for two. Castle went for the Bangarang, but Titus turned it into a roll-up for two. Castle was sent crashing to the floor, as was Young, as Titus and Hendry were the last two in the ring. Hendry caught a dive and hit a press slam on Titus. He then picked up both Titus and Young and hit a fallaway slam, but Castle stole the cover for a near fall.
Titus ran into a powerbomb from Hendry for two. Castle hit Bangarang, but there was a contrived ref bump spot where the official didn’t make contact at all — that looked terrible. Hendry hit Castle with the belt, then Draper ran down from commentary to take down Hendry. Young rolled Titus up for a near fall, then they traded forearms. Titus avoided a springboard splash from Young, then hit a straight dropkick on Young to win the championship.
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Current AEW World Champion Hangman Page sent his well wishes to Ring of Honor, saying it allowed him to travel the world for the first time.
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Johnson cut a promo before the match saying everyone who made this event possible could “get bent.”
Brian Zane joined commentary for this match.
ROH Pure Championship: Josh Woods (c) defeated Brian Johnson [12:59]
It was not a mat classic, but I enjoyed the “no amount of cheating can overcome pure wrestling” story.
Woods immediately forced Johnson to burn two rope breaks. He dominated with hard strikes and locked on a sleeper over the ropes, so Johnson dropped Woods across the ropes. He followed it up with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Woods went for another rear naked choke, but Johnson fought out and hit a springboard shoulder tackle. A rebound lariat followed for two.
Johnson hit a spike cutter with Woods draped off the apron to the floor. He climbed the ropes, but Woods popped up and tossed him to the mat and cut him off with a spear. They battled for a suplex, with Woods suplexing Johnson over the ropes, sending both crashing to the floor. They traded forearms on the outside but had to re-enter the ring to break the count.
Woods overpowered Johnson, who responded with an open hand slap. Woods came back with one of his own and locked on a standing head-and-arm choke, forcing Johnson to use his third rope break. With the official’s back turned, Johnson poked Woods’ eye and hit The Process for a good near fall.
Johnson picked up the belt and the official wrestled it away. He tried to take off the top turnbuckle pad, but Woods popped up and hit a German suplex bridge for a near fall. Johnson then grabbed brass knuckles and whacked Woods with them, but Woods kicked out again.
They fought on the top rope, but Woods locked on a front sleeper and Johnson passed out for the stoppage.
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The next legend video was from Jimmy Jacobs. He discussed how he used to room with guys like the Young Bucks, Tyler Black, and El Generico. All of them have loads of success, and it wouldn’t have been possible without Ring of Honor.
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Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor defeated Kenny King [17:47]
The “music between the notes” wasn’t really there, but the high spots were so impressive that it was impossible not to get into this.
King spat in Taylor’s face right away, so Taylor sent him to the floor and into the barricades. Taylor swung with a chair, but King avoided it. King was sent crashing to the floor with a back body drop. Taylor set up tables, but King used the time to recover and baited Taylor into a fight in the ring. Taylor overpowered King.
They fought on the top rope, where King hit an insane blockbuster through two tables to the floor. King was the first to get back to his feet, and he whacked Taylor with kendo stick shots. He forced Taylor into the corner and smacked him over the head with a trash can. Taylor caught a corner attack and slammed King onto the can.
Taylor got a measure of revenge with kendo stick shots of his own. He propped King onto a table on the floor and put him through it with a running splash. Taylor then brought out another table, propping this one up in the ring. He tried to lawn-dart King into it, but King escaped and put Taylor through it with a rolling Death Valley driver for a near fall.
Out on the floor, King bridged a ladder between the ring and the barricade. They both brought more ladders into the ring until King hit Taylor with more kendo stick shots, then Taylor did the same to King. They bridged a ladder between to propped-up ladders in the ring, and King placed Taylor onto it. He then dove off a ladder, sending Taylor through a ladder for another near fall.
Taylor caught a boot and laid in a strike combination followed by Welcome to the Land for two. They both moved to the outside and fought on top of the bridged ladder, where Taylor put King through the ladder to the floor with a package piledriver in an absurd spot. In the ring, King kicked out at two for a great false finish.
It appeared as if Taylor was hesitant in using a chair, so King implored him to “f*cking do it,” and Taylor obliged. The Marcus Garvey driver onto the chair followed for the win.
– After the match, all of ROH’s Black talent stood together in the ring.
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AEW superstar CM Punk was the next alumni video. He said ROH felt like lightning in the bottle, and told people to not be sad it’s over, but happy it happened. The business today would be drastically different if ROH didn’t exist.
The crowd had a tough time getting into it after the wild previous match, but I thought these women were great here. The crowd loved Willow.
Willow out-wrestled Rok-C early on as she had the champ scouted. Rok-C came back with moonsault knees, but Willow reversed them and tried to catapult Rok-C into the ropes. Rok-C blocked it and went for an escalera but was smashed with a corner splash from the challenger. Willow followed it up with a cannonball.
Rok-C countered the third of the Three Amigos, but Willow kept the arm clutched into an Olympic slam for two. The champion laid in forearms and followed it up with an escalera hurricanrana. A Thesz press followed by a Russian legsweep got two for Rok-C. She locked on a crossface, but Willow turned it into a cradle for two.
Willow sent Rok-C flying with a pounce. They traded stiff strikes to each other’s chests. Willow countered the Code Rok into a belly-to-back piledriver for a near fall. Willow climbed the ropes, but Rok-C cut her off and turned it into a powerbomb for two. Rok-C then climbed the ropes, but Willow popped up and turned it into a superplex. She then hit a top-rope moonsault for a good near fall.
Rok-C escaped the Babe Bomb and caught a kick, returning fire with a rising knee and a spin kick. The Code Rok followed for the win.
– After the match, Deonna Purrazzo came out with the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. She said that if she beats Mickie James for the Knockouts championship, she will challenge Rok-C in a “winner takes all” match.
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Adam Cole was the next alumni to send in a video. He said that ROH changed the landscape of the industry, and he became the wrestler he is today thanks to ROH.
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VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, Tony Deppen) & Rocky Romero defeated EC3 & The Foundation (Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust, & Eli Isom) [13:32]
This was ROH Appreciation: The Match. The post-match angle was cool but also fairly baffling.
Rocky and Williams started things off, with the former quickly going for the forever clotheslines and then the cross armbreaker. Next in was Deppen and Rust, who performed a technical exchange with some nice cradles. Deppen hit both Williams and Rust with a double hurricanrana, then tagged in Homicide, who immediately ran into a crossface. EC3 tagged in, and he and Homicide traded strikes. King tagged in and he and Homicide worked together to take down EC3.
The last man to enter the match was Isom. He went for a sleeper by hopping on King’s back, but King powered out of it and hit a big running senton for two. Homicide tagged in and it was noted that he was wearing the exact same jumpsuit he wore on the very first ROH event. Isom tried to escape out for a tag and eventually did reach EC3. Deppen tried to take out EC3 with a dive, but EC3 caught him with a suplex. Homicide then took out EC3 with a tope.
Isom landed an Orihara moonsault onto Deppen and Homicide. Rust and Williams cut off a King dive and hit Total Elimination, but King popped right back up and sent them to the floor. He then hit a tope suicida on everyone. Back in the ring, King hit a big lariat on EC3 followed by a piledriver for two. Rust and Rocky had an exchange where Rust powerbombed Rocky onto chairs.
Back in the ring, Homicide attacked EC3 with a fork. Isom and King tagged in, and the latter hit a muscle buster EC3 then hit a piledriver. We got a parade of big moves that all had references to finishers from ROH legends like CM Punk, Jerry Lynn, Homicide himself, Brian Kendrick, Nigel McGuinness, El Generico, KENTA, and Bryan Danielson. They were too fast to list, but that was an awesome sequence.
Isom and Homicide faced off in the center of the ring, and Homicide hit the Cop Killa for a great near fall. Isom hit Homicide with a superkick, but King tagged in. King went for a big lariat, but Isom collapsed. King caught a lariat attempt and hit Isom with the Gonzo Bomb for the win.
– EC3 and Isom were the only two left in the ring. EC3 cut a rather obtuse promo, saying they paid homage to the past, and told Isom to stand. He then said that there is no honor in this ring, as it’s just corporate wrestling. They give everything to the ring, and they get nothing. Brian Johnson and Dak Draper came out and were heated. EC3 said this was a call to arms, saying they could take back this industry block by block. He told them all to use their power and said they could use their freedom.
Two wrestlers (one of whom was Wesley Blake) appeared on the ramp, then EC3 said “Free the Titan,” and Adam Scherr (the former Braun Strowman) stormed out. EC3, Scherr, and the two goons sent Isom, Johnson, and Draper packing.
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The Young Bucks reminisced on their time in Ring of Honor.
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Cary Silkin joined commentary for this match.
ROH World Tag Team Championships: The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) defeated The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett) (c) [15:56]
This was an absolutely stellar tag team match and unquestionably the best match of the night thus far. I’d be shocked if there’s a better Matt Taven or Mike Bennett match out there. The Briscoes winning was the only possible ending here.
Jay and Taven started off, then Mark and Bennett tagged in. Bennett cut Mark off and tagged in Taven, who dropkicked Jay to the floor and then followed it up with a tope suicida. He then went for a wild dive over the top rope, but the Briscoes moved out of the way and Taven was sent crashing into his partner. Mark set up a chair in the ring and used it to hit a step-up flip dive onto the OGK.
The Briscoes isolated Taven in their corner until Taven tagged in and the OGK hit a combination for two. Mark fought off both of the OGK and hit exploder suplexes on both opponents. The Briscoes hit a quick Redneck Boogie for two. Jay was busted open. He went for the Jay Driller, but Taven cradled him for two and reached Bennett for the tag.
Bennett laid in machine gun chops and a brainbuster. He hung Jay off the apron over the floor, and Taven hit a splash all the way to the floor. Taven hit the Climax in the ring after a parade of big moves, leading to everyone being down. Mark landed a pescado to the floor and then Jay landed a tope suicida. Mark kept up the offense with a blockbuster to the floor.
Mark climbed the ropes and hit a top-rope elbow drop, but Maria pulled the official out of the ring to stop the count. Bennett accidentally speared Maria. The Briscoes wanted a Doomsday Device on the floor, but Bennett escaped and hit a piledriver on Jay. The OGK then hit an unbelievable suicide Doomsday Device for a great near fall.
The OGK hit the Hail Mary, but Jay broke up the pinfall at the last second. Jay hit Bennett with the Jay Driller, Taven hit a spinning heel kick on Jay and a running knee on Mark. Taven went for a frog splash, but Mark got the knees up and Jay hit the Jay Driller for an awesome near fall.
The Briscoes then hit the Doomsday Device for yet another close near fall. A third Jay Driller followed by the Froggy Bow gave the Briscoes the win and the championships.
– After the match, Jay said that this might be the end of an era, but it’s not the end of the Briscoes. He said any tag team could come and challenge them.
The lights went out and current AEW wrestlers and AAA tag team champions FTR showed up. They brawled with the Briscoes and security had to come out and break it up.
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Bryan Danielson was the final video message. He talked about being on the very first ROH show and said that without ROH, he wouldn’t be where he is today. He thanked ROH and its fans.
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ROH World Championship: Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal [15:11]
This was perfectly worked. Both men are ring generals, but I fear they were short on time as they had to finish by 11pm eastern. The ROH locker room coming out to watch was lovely.
Neither man could establish an advantage early on. Gresham was eventually able to dropkick Lethal to the floor and maintain control upon re-entry to the ring. They had a nice technical exchange until Lethal began to lay in chops. Lethal hit an enziguiri, sending Gresham to the floor, and followed it up with a tope suicida.
Back in the ring, Lethal caught a crossbody and hit a fallaway slam. He slapped Gresham across the face and followed it up with a leg-trap facebuster. Gresham countered Lethal Injection into an O’Connor roll, but Lethal stopped a missile dropkick. Gresham reversed a figure four into a cradle before cradling Lethal multiple other times for close two-counts.
They traded chops for a long time until Lethal hit a snap powerslam. He climbed the ropes, but Gresham rolled out of the way. They kept countering each other’s moves and we got another extended cradle exchange. Lethal got Gresham in the torture rack and rolled through with a senton. Hail to the King was next.
Lethal wanted the Lethal Injection, but his injured arm gave out. Gresham capitalized with a moonsault and went for a chickenwing, locking it on with a body scissors. As Lethal was about to escape, Gresham turned it into a cutter.
The full ROH locker room ran out to watch the match at ringside. Gresham and Lethal traded strikes in the center of the ring. Gresham popped up with an enziguiri and a snap German for two, followed by the Bayonet for two. He hit a second one for another near fall. Lethal cut him off with a superkick, but he couldn’t hit the powerbomb, and Gresham hit a third Bayonet for another near fall.
Gresham went for a fourth Bayonet but was cut off with a lariat. Gresham countered the Lethal Injection into a backslide for a near fall, then locked on the octopus stretch for the win.
– After the match, Gresham celebrated with his wife, fellow professional wrestler Jordynne Grace.
A recent addition to the AEW roster is returning to Ring of Honor to take part in Final Battle: End of an Era.
ROH has announced that Jonathan Gresham vs. AEW’s Jay Lethal will take place at Final Battle this Saturday night. Bandido was originally scheduled to defend his ROH World Championship against Gresham in the main event of the pay-per-view, but Bandido had to be pulled from the show due to testing positive for COVID-19.
The situation with the ROH World Championship will be addressed during Final Battle Hour One, which airs for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. The main card will then begin on PPV and HonorClub at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“ROH would like to publicly thank AEW for allowing Lethal to wrestle at Final Battle: End of an Era,” ROH wrote. Lethal departed ROH when he signed with AEW last month.
“This match is about more than winning or losing, more than who’s the best or what championship we hold,” Lethal said. “This match is about showing the world what this era of Ring of Honor is and I can’t wait to get back into the ring with one of the best wrestlers I know tomorrow night, Jonathan Gresham.”
Gresham and Lethal formerly held the ROH Tag Team titles with each other and have been stablemates in The Foundation. They were recently involved in a storyline where Vincent Marseglia created dissension between Lethal and The Foundation by playing a video where Lethal said that he doesn’t even like The Foundation. Lethal claimed Vincent had taken what he said out of context.
ROH is promoting that Gresham vs. Lethal will be part of a double main event at Final Battle. The other main event is The OGK’s Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. The Briscoes for the ROH Tag Team titles.
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore is hosting Final Battle. It will be the final ROH live event before the promotion goes on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after the PPV.
Here’s the updated card for the show.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle defends against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
Chelsea Green & The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) & Miranda Alize
ROH World Champion Bandido will miss Saturday’s Final Battle after testing positive for COVID-19.
The company announced today that Bandido tested positive and will not be at the Baltimore-area event this Saturday, December 11. Bandido had been scheduled to defend the ROH World title against Jonathan Gresham on the show. No replacement match has been announced.
“#FinalBattle update. Get well soon @bandidowrestler! Match updates will be released as soon as possible.”
“Unfortunately, ROH World Champion Bandido returned a positive result on his most recent Covid Testing and will not be present at Final Battle this Saturday, December 11th in Baltimore.
Thank you for continuously supporting Ring of Honor through it all and we appreciate your understanding that safety and health of our talents, staff and fans are our top priorities.
Stay tuned for match updates regarding Final Battle 2021 as we commemorate the history-making era that is coming to an end.”
ROH will go on hiatus following Final Battle, with a relaunch planned for Spring 2022, although no future dates have been announced, and no talent will be under contract after March 31, 2022.
The full card for Ring of Honor’s “End of an Era” Final Battle pay-per-view has now been revealed.
On this week’s edition of ROH Week By Week, three matches were added to the card for Final Battle. Dalton Castle will defend his ROH Television Championship against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match at the PPV. Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus has also been added to Final Battle, along with a six-woman tag match with Chelsea Green, Allysin Kay & Marti Belle facing Angelina Love, Mandy Leon & Miranda Alize.
Hendry, who is from Scotland, is returning stateside for ROH for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
It was also announced on Week By Week that Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King at Final Battle will be a Fight Without Honor. A Fight Without Honor is an anything goes match.
Final Battle is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore this Saturday (December 11). ROH is going on hiatus after the PPV, and ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed. ROH has said that it will be taking the first quarter of 2022 to “reimagine” the company.
Final Battle Hour One will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday and will air for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook. A wildcard 10-man tag match is set for the Hour One broadcast. The Final Battle main card will then begin on HonorClub and PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s the full card for Final Battle:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle defends against Rhett Titus, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
Chelsea Green & The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) vs. The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon) & Miranda Alize
