Throughout Ring of Honor’s “End of an Era” Final Battle pay-per-view earlier this month, video messages played from former ROH talent now working in other companies. Most notably, AEW stars CM Punk and Bryan Danielson sent messages wishing ROH well before its impending hiatus.
According to Kevin Owens, ROH did not ask any WWE talent to send in videos.
Appearing on Pat Laprade’s les Anti-Pods de la Lutte podcast, Owens said that ROH did not ask the WWE office or any individual talent to send in videos. Owens said he thinks WWE would have allowed them to if ROH asked.
“The answer is quite simple: Ring of Honor didn’t ask any wrestlers from WWE to do that, nor contacted anyone at WWE,” Owens said (interview conducted in French). “I knew it was going to be their last show, but I didn’t think to send a video so they could play it at the show. I’ve watched it. I was at a WWE show, and I was watching it on my phone, so it was not something I simply ignored. I’ve read some people on the internet saying that probably WWE didn’t let us do it, but that’s incorrect. It’s just ROH who didn’t ask us, and I bet that if they had, we could have done it, but that wasn’t the case.”
In his weekly column on ROH’s website last Friday, Kevin Eck wrote: “It was very classy of AEW and Impact Wrestling to allow their talent to appear at Final Battle and send in video tributes. If only every major wrestling company was as classy.”
Also on les Anti-Pods de la Lutte, Owens spoke about the importance of ROH to his career:
It’s funny cause I often ask myself that same question. Of course, it gave me a very important platform in the United States. But at the end of the day, William Regal saw me at a PWG show. And even before I started full time with ROH in 2007, I had a good name on the indies because of PWG. So sometimes I wonder if things would have not become what they became with ROH, if I would have made it to WWE anyway. Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know. But at the same time, there was a point in my career where I thought ROH would be where I would spend my whole career. Even if my goal was always to go with WWE, [there] was a point in my life where I had my son and my wife, and I was thinking that traveling so much like I would have had to do in WWE was not the best thing for me, so I was thinking that the more time I can make a living working ROH, that’s what I would do. However, with time, my priorities changed a little, my family’s priorities changed a little, and that’s when WWE became my goal again. So ROH was a big influence and a huge part of my career, but I often wonder if ROH would have not been part of my career, if I would have made it to WWE anyway. A huge part of me thinks so. That said, I have plenty of good and fun memories with ROH, and I’m very happy to have been apart of ROH for all those years.
It was revealed last week that Owens has signed a new multi-year contract with WWE. Big E will defend his WWE Championship against Owens, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley in a fatal four-way match at WWE’s Day 1 PPV on Saturday, January 1.
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.
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.
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
The Women’s World Championship match for ROH’s Final Battle pay-per-view is now set.
On the latest edition of ROH TV, Willow Nightingale defeated Mandy Leon in a number one contender’s match. Willow will challenge Rok-C for the ROH Women’s World Championship at Final Battle this Saturday (December 11).
Willow and Leon both won triple threat matches to advance to the number one contender’s bout. Willow defeated Miranda Alize and Angelina Love, while Leon defeated Trish Adora and Allysin Kay.
Rok-C became the inaugural ROH Women’s World Champion by defeating Alize in the finals of a tournament at Death Before Dishonor this September.
A six-man tag team match with Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen facing Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom has also been added to Final Battle.
Final Battle is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore. The show will mark the end of an era for ROH. After Final Battle, ROH will go on hiatus for the first quarter of 2022 to “reimagine” the company. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed following the PPV.
Final Battle Hour One will stream for free on HonorClub, YouTube, and Facebook starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time this Saturday. The main card will then begin on HonorClub and PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s the updated card for the show:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Tracy Williams, Taylor Rust & Eli Isom
ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle defends against an opponent to be announced
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defend against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch)
An ROH Six-Man Tag Team title match is the latest addition to the card for Final Battle.
On today’s edition of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) will defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) at Final Battle. The pay-per-view is taking place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, December 11.
Edwards, who is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions, is a substitute for Shane Taylor in the Six-Man Tag Team title match. Taylor is facing Kenny King in a singles match at Final Battle.
Shane Taylor Promotions have held the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles since winning them from Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus this February.
Vincent has previously held the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles three times. All of those reigns came when he was a member of The Kingdom.
Before Final Battle, Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Moses & Kaun) will have a Six-Man Tag Team title defense against Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen). That match will premiere on ROH’s YouTube channel on Thursday, December 9.
Final Battle is ROH’s final show 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 Final Battle card:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale or Mandy Leon (Willow and Leon will face off in a number one contender’s match on the Saturday, December 4 episode of ROH TV)
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
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)
ROH has added a new title match to the card for Final Battle.
Josh Woods will defend his ROH Pure Championship against Brian Johnson at Final Battle, which takes place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore on Saturday, December 11. The pay-per-view will mark an end of an era for ROH as the promotion then goes on hiatus to “reimagine” the company in the first quarter of 2022. ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed after Final Battle.
Woods won the Pure title from Jonathan Gresham at Death Before Dishonor this September. Gresham, who moved to the World Championship division after losing the Pure title, will challenge for Bandido’s ROH World Championship in the main event of Final Battle.
Johnson defeated John Walters in a Pure Rules match on the latest episode of ROH TV. ROH is hyping up Johnson’s match against Woods at Final Battle as one of the dirtiest wrestlers in the promotion challenging for the Pure wrestling title.
The updated card for Final Battle is listed below:
ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham
ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C defends against Willow Nightingale or Mandy Leon (Willow and Leon will face off in a number one contender’s match on the Saturday, December 4 episode of ROH TV)
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods defends against Brian Johnson
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) will defend the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles
ROH has also announced that, during the week leading into Final Battle, they’ll be uploading Road to Final Battle matches on their YouTube channel each day. Those matches are:
Monday, December 6: Jonathan Gresham vs. Dragon Lee
Tuesday, December 7: ROH Television Champion Dalton Castle & Dak Draper vs. PJ Black & Flip Gordon
Wednesday, December 8: Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser
Thursday, December 9: ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses & Kaun) defend against Violence Unlimited (Homicide, Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen)
Two championship matches have been made official for ROH’s end of an era Final Battle pay-per-view.
The ROH World Championship will be on the line as Bandido defends against Jonathan Gresham at Final Battle on Saturday, December 11. An ROH Tag Team title match has also been confirmed for the PPV, with Matt Taven & Mike Bennett defending against The Briscoes.
Gresham announced last month that he was leaving ROH’s Pure division and entering the World title division. He was set up as Bandido’s challenger for Final Battle by defeating Brody King at Honor for All on Sunday.
Bandido won the ROH World Championship from Rush at Best in the World this July.
Taven & Bennett defeated Kenny King & Dragon Lee to win the ROH Tag Team titles at Honor for All. On ROH Week By Week, Taven called The Briscoes the greatest tag team in ROH history and said that, if this is the end, there would be no greater honor than facing them at Final Battle.
ROH is going on hiatus after Final Battle and taking the first quarter of 2022 to reimagine the company. Talent won’t have their contracts renewed after Final Battle and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
Final Battle is taking place at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
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)
The first match is official for this December’s Final Battle pay-per-view, the final ROH show before the promotion goes on hiatus.
Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King will take place at Final Battle on Saturday, December 11. The PPV is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Taylor vs. King is a grudge match between former friends. Taylor lost an ROH World Championship match against then-champion Rush this February after King hit him with a steel chair. King acted like he was going to stop Rush from hitting Taylor with a chair, but King then hit Taylor with the chair himself.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Moses & Kaun) are the current ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions, while La Faccion Ingobernable’s King & Dragon Lee are the ROH Tag Team Champions.
ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C is set to defend her title at Final Battle. Leading into the PPV, a number one contender’s match to decide her challenger will take place on ROH TV. Willow Nightingale has already advanced to the number one contender’s match. A triple threat match between Trish Adora, Allysin Kay, and Mandy Leon will determine Willow’s opponent.
ROH announced last month that it is going on hiatus after Final Battle. They’ll be taking the first quarter of 2022 to “work internally to reimagine ROH.” ROH talent won’t have their contracts renewed and are able to work wherever they want immediately.
ROH has revealed when this year’s Final Battle pay-per-view will be taking place.
It was announced today that Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore will host Final Battle 2021 on Saturday, December 11. The show will air live on PPV and HonorClub.
“Final Battle, Ring of Honor’s ultimate pay-per-view show of the year, returns to Baltimore’s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on Saturday, Dec. 11. Final Battle has been ROH’s biggest annual event since the company’s inception in 2002. The star-studded extravaganza has produced a multitude of memorable moments, including Match of the Year winners and five ROH World Title changes,” ROH wrote.
“Scores will be settled, championships will be decided, and the best wrestlers on the planet will pull out all the stops at Final Battle.”
ROH noted that fans should stay tuned to ROHWrestling.com and ROH’s social media channels for ticket on-sale information. Final Battle will be the first ROH show with fans in attendance since September’s Death Before Dishonor PPV.
The week before Final Battle, there will be a number one contender’s match to determine who will challenge for Rok-C’s ROH Women’s World Championship at the PPV. Willow Nightingale booked her spot in the number one contender’s match by defeating Angelina Love and Miranda Alize on the latest episode of ROH TV. Willow will face either Trish Adora, Allysin Kay, or Mandy Leon in the number one contender’s match.
While things are a bit different than normal, Ring of Honor begins to close out 2020 tonight with its traditional biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Final Battle 2020 will be the first ROH PPV of the pandemic era. The show was taped in advance and is being headlined by Rush defending his ROH World Championship against Brody King.
The ROH Tag Team titles will be on the line as Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defend against Mark Briscoe & PCO. Gresham is pulling double duty and also defending his ROH Pure Championship against Flip Gordon.
Dragon Lee will defend his ROH Television Championship against the winner of a four-way match from earlier in the night, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett are facing Vincent Marseglia & Bateman in a grudge match, and Danhausen will square off with Brian Johnson. If Danhausen wins, his ROH contract will become official.
Final Battle Hour One is airing for free starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time and will feature Tony Deppen vs. Dak Draper vs. Josh Woods vs. LSG to determine Lee’s challenger and Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus vs. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta in the first-ever Pure Rules tag match.
Jay Briscoe vs. EC3 was originally set for Final Battle, along with Bandido, Flamita & Rey Horus defending their ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles against Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery). But EC3, Bandido, Flamita, and Kenny King were pulled from the PPV tapings due to pre-travel COVID-19 testing. The subsequent changes to the card will be announced during Final Battle Hour One. The Final Battle main card will then begin on PPV and HonorClub at 9 p.m. Eastern.
**********
Show Report —
The commentary team of Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Dalton Castle welcomed us to the broadcast. They ran down the stacked card for tonight’s show.
Tony Deppen defeated LSG, Josh Woods, and Dak Draper in a Fatal 4-Way Television Title #1 Contenders match
This match is being contested under Lucha Rules because Dragon Lee is the ROH Television Champion.
Draper and Woods began the match. Woods and Draper exchanged control a few times early on. Once Woods got control, LSG tagged himself in the match. Deppen ended up tagging himself in and sent LSG to the outside, making Draper the legal man. Draper controlled Deppen, hitting a big boot from a flying Deppen off the top rope at one point.
Draper attempted a Magnum Drop on Deppen, but it was stopped by LSG trying to tag himself in. Deppen tried to go to the top, but Draper followed him up there and hit a superplex. LSG tagged himself in and instantly hit a clothesline on Draper. Draper poached LSG on the top rope, but Woods came from behind and suplexed both men.
Draper recovered and delivered a Doctor Bomb to Woods, but Woods recovered quickly and locked in a triangle choke for a split second. Woods really needed some more offense in this showing after his weak showing against Flip Gordon on ROH TV earlier in the week. LSG came off the top rope and hit Woods, then Deppen came from behind and rolled up LSG in a pinning combination for the win.
******
A promo for RUSH aired. He’s prepared to go tonight after being locked down for 8 months.
Tony Deppen joined Quinn McKay backstage after his win. Deppen said he did it for his wife and his son that was born three weeks ago. Deppen said that Dragon Lee will have to kill him because he’s not leaving tonight without the Television Title.
Quinn McKay is joined by Shane Taylor and the Soldiers Of Savagery. The ROH Six-Man Tag Team champions Mexi-Squad offered to forfeit the championships to them, but they declined. Taylor said he wants to win the titles the right way:
Next, Quinn McKay is joined by Brian Johnson. Johnson is pumped up for tonight’s show, citing some of the best matches in ROH history have taken place at Final Battle. Johnson states that tonight is Danhausen’s funeral.
Jay Briscoe arrived at the arena. Jay tells Mark that he’s free for the Tag Team Championship match, but Mark told him he already had a partner. Shane Taylor approached Jay and told him he was going to knock him on his ass. Quinn McKay basically confirmed that the match is happening tonight.
Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus defeated Wheeler Yuta and Fred Yehi in a Pure Rules Tag Team Match.
Code Of Honor was adhered too.
Yehi and Williams began the contest. Yehi took down Williams with an arm wrench, but Williams quickly regained his composure and tagged in Titus. Yehi stayed on the attack and got Titus in a Koji Clutch, causing Titus to use his first rope break. Yuta and Williams eventually tagged in and Williams held Yuta in place as Titus dove off the second rope with an axe-handle. Yuta tagged Yehi in who went straight for the Koji Clutch again on Titus, causing the team of Titus and Williams his third and final rope break. Yehi was on par with his timing on the submissions.
Williams and Yehi became the legal men eventually, and Yehi smushed Williams in the corner with a running splash. Williams got distracted and Yehi locked in another Koji Clutch. Titus realized he couldn’t break up the hold, so he launched Yuta into the clutch, breaking the hold. Titus tagged in after Williams recovered. Yuta tagged in after and hit an atomic drop-german suplex combo on Titus. Williams came in and spiked Yuta with a piledriver, but Yehi broke it up costing his team their final rope break. Williams followed it up with a crossface but with Yuta out of rope breaks, he submitted.
******
Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal defeated PCO and Mark Briscoe to retain the ROH Tag Team Championships
Code Of Honor adhered too.
Briscoe and Lethal began the contest. Briscoe is aggressive early, trying to down Lethal. Commentary noted that Lethal is trying to wrestle, while Briscoe is trying to fight. Good stuff from Lethal keeping his “pure” reputation. Gresham and PCO tag in, but again PCO is trying to fight while Gresham is trying to wrestle. All hell breaks loose and PCO dove onto Lethal on the outside while he regrouped with Gresham, and Briscoe dove onto Gresham.
Briscoe set up a chair and hit another springboard dive on the outside onto Gresham and Lethal. Eventually both teams made it back in the ring and Gresham began to cut off the ring. Lethal tagged in and tried to throw Gresham into Briscoe in the corner, but Briscoe caught Gresham with an elbow. PCO tagged in and hit repeated chops on Lethal. At a later point in the match, PCO and Briscoe hit a combination Froggy Bow and PCO-sault, but only for a two count.
In the closing sequence, Gresham and Lethal hit a doomsday device, and Gresham followed it up with a phenomenal moonsault on PCO. PCO shouldn’t have kicked out of this, but somehow he did. Gresham rolled up him quickly afterwards for the win.
******
Ian Riccaboni cut to earlier in the broadcast when Dalton Castle got upset that Rey Horus was in the building with no match. Castle got the match signed, and it’s up next! Should be a fun match, but not really needed.
Rey Horus defeated Dalton Castle
Horus tried to start with a fast, lucha style pace but Castle slowed him down every time. Castle got overwhelmed and frustrated following a springboard arm drag. Castle didn’t take lightly to the maneuver and started to ground Horus. Castle held a gut wrench lock on Horus for a good minute, slowing the pace down. Horus did regain his style of pace, clearing the top rope with a diving senton onto Castle on the outside.
Later in the match, Horus baited Castle into running at him but sidestepped him, sending Castle knee first into the barricade. Horus rolled Castle back in the ring and kept on the attack with a great looking springboard tornado DDT. Castle sold it very, very well. Horus baited Castle to the top rope and planted Castle with a tornado driver for the win. Castle losing again is a choice i’ll question for now, but we’ll see where it goes.
******
Mike Bennett and Matt Taven defeated Vincent and Bateman (w/ Vita VonnStar)
Bennett and Taven rushed Vincent and Bateman as the bell rang. Taven superkicked Vincent, and Bennett followed it up with a spear. Vincent taunted Taven, but Bateman tagged in and went for the knee of Taven immediately. Taven struggled to get a tag but eventually did, and Bennett went to work on Bateman in the corner with multiple chops. Von Star distracted Bennett, and Bateman regained control with a big boot. Vincent tagged in and hit a side slam, cutting off the ring to prevent a tag from Taven.
Vincent locked in the Grim Sleeper on Bennett. Bennett escaped out of the hold with a beautiful snap brainbuster. Taven got the great hot tag and hit a rolling cutter. Taven ducked a clothesline from Bateman and dove onto Vincent at ringside. Taven attempted the Climax on Bateman after getting back in the ring, but Vincent caught him and locked in another Grim Sleeper submission. Vincent does the hold very well and hopefully he uses it as a finisher going foward.
Vincent hit a red rum on Taven which got him a win over Taven last year, but Taven powered out at 2. Bateman and Bennett both got hot tags, and Bennett ended up spearing Bateman. Bateman’s offense looked very unbelievable and slow. Taven and Vincent returned to the ring, and Taven hit his signature knee strike. Bennett drug half of Vincent’s body off the apron, and Taven came off the top rope with a frog splash onto Vincent onto the concrete. Bennett spiked Bateman with a piledriver and followed it up with the spear for the win.
After the match ended, Vita Vonn Star low blowed the winners. Vincent and Bateman began attacking Taven and Bennett. Vincent introduced a wooden block and put it between Bennett’s feet. Vincent smacked a chair into Bennett’s ankles. Commentary requested to cut away from the attack as officials helped Bennett out of the ring.
******
Danhausen defeated Brian Johnson via DQ
Code Of Honor was adhered too.
While Johnson was trash talking, Danhausen pump kicked him. Johnson almost lost the match fast, kicked out at two. Johnson grabbed a mic and told the commentary team to shut up. Johnson told the viewers at home that Danhausen looks better cross-dressing than most girls look doing their makeup. Johnson hits a scoop slam for a two count on Danhausen. Danhausen grabs the mic from Johnson and tells him not to swear, and spears him into the corner. I love when promo’s get intertwined within matches, it’s usually very entertaining.
Johnson continues to yell on the mic, saying it’s him vs everybody. Danhausen takes advantage of Johnson and hits a roll-through german suplex. Danhausen grabs his jar of teeth and hits the go to sleephausen, but Johnson kicked out. Johnson poured the jar of teeth into Danhausen’s mouth and hit him, but the teeth flew out and hit the official. Danhausen rubbed his face paint on the microphone and pretended to be hit by it. The official disqualified Johnson, therefore earning Danhausen a ROH Contract.
******
Dragon Lee defeated Tony Deppen to retain the ROH Television Championship
Deppen and Lee start fast, exchanging constant pinning attempts. Lee went to fix his mask, and Deppen tried to roll up him to no avail. Deppen kept up the constant high speed action, springing off the rope and drop kicking Lee. Lee gained control back quickly, locking in a headlock. Lee spit in his hand and slapped Deppen, which made Deppen “hulk” up. Deppen came charging off the ropes and hit a moonsault northern lights DDT.
Lee climbed the top rope but Deppen halted him with an enziguri. Lee no sold it and perched Deppen on the top rope, but Deppen grabbed Lee and dove off with a somersault neckbreaker. Deppen tried to pin again but Lee kicked out. Lee sprung up and hit a poison rana, followed up with a pump knee. Deppen still kicked out, so Lee followed it up with another pump knee strike for the win.
This match really woke up the PPV. I questioned the four-hour format going in, but so far so good.
******
Shane Taylor (w/ S.O.S) defeated Jay Briscoe
Briscoe and Taylor adhere to Code Of Honor. Taylor catches Briscoe in the corner early, delivering big blows to the top half of Briscoe. Briscoe tried to run the ropes, but Taylor mowed him over with a shoulder tackle. Taylor has one of the best shoulder tackles in wrestling. As Briscoe tried to return to his feet, Taylor delivered a great forearm to Briscoe, buckling his knees and sending him to the canvas. Taylor is easily one of the best strikers in wrestling.
Briscoe started to fight back finally, clubbing multiple forearms to the skull of Taylor. Briscoe rolled Taylor in the ring and continued the hard hitting blows. Taylor spun around and clubbed Briscoe again with a great forearm. They worked really stiff in this match and it came across great on TV. Mark Briscoe came down to the ring to try to cheer on Jay. Taylor tried to drop Briscoe with the tower city DDT, but Briscoe turned it into a chokehold from behind. Briscoe worked Taylor down to the mat with the hold, but Taylor reached the ropes eventually. Briscoe hit his signature neckbreaker, but Taylor kicked out again. Taylor hit his signature headbutt followed by Welcome To The Land piledriver to pick up the win.
After the match, Mark Briscoe tried to elbow bump Jay. Jay was hesitant, but still followed through.
******
Jonathan Gresham defeated Flip Gordon to retain the ROH Pure Championship
Code Of Honor is adhered too.
Gresham worked on the arm of Gordon early. Gordon used his first rope break when Gresham wrenched the arm hard. Gordon is clearly getting outclassed early as Gresham locks in a knee bar. The submission caused Gordon to use his second rope break. Gresham continued to completely outclass Gordon, locking in a hammerlock armbar. A few moments later, Gresham baited Gordon into using his third and final rope break.
Gordon finally ended up getting some control, popping Gresham with a superkick. Gresham used his first rope break during the pinfall attempt. At one point, Gresham dove off the top rope and hit knee first. Gordon started to work over the knee of Gresham, locking in a grounded knee bar. Gresham kept trying to get back into the contest, but Gordon kept working on the knee. Gordon tried to lock in a Submit The Flip but Gresham used his second rope break.
Gordon hit a great falcon arrow moments later, and transitioned it into the Submit The Flip, but Gresham used his third and final rope break. Gresham regained composure but Gordon struck Gresham with a closed fist. The official issued Gordon his one warning. Gordon got Submit The Flip locked in for a third time but Gresham forced himself out of the ring with both men hitting the concrete instantly. Great spot there to put over the STF as a legit submission. Gresham brought Gordon to the top rope and hit a beautiful hammerlock suplex, but Gordon still kicked out. A frustrated Gresham started charging Gordon with forearms which eventually led to a referee stoppage, giving Gresham the win.
Credit to Jon Gresham for putting on TWO amazing matches in one PPV. He’s my favorite thing in the company at the moment.
******
Rush defeated Brody King to retain the ROH WORLD Chanpionship
King offered a handshake to Rush, but Rush kicked his hand. King dove onto Rush as he was recovering on the outside. King flung Rush skull first into the turnbuckle, then body slammed him onto a pile of chairs. Both competitors made their way back in the ring, with King in firm control. King cannonballed himself onto Rush in the corner.
Rush took the match to the outside again, clearing the top rope and diving onto King. Rush grabbed a power cord that was at ringside, and began whipping King with it. Rush began to choke King with the cord, but Todd Sinclair broke it up while he was laughing it off. Rush being a confident heel is great stuff. Rush rolled King back in the ring and continued dominating him. King charged Rush at one point, but Rush caught him with an overhead suplex. King spit on his hand and chopped Rush, and then threw up the tranquilo sign. Rush didn’t take it lightly, and began delivering knees to King. Dragon Lee came to the ring and distracted the referee while Bestia came to the ring and smacked Brody King with a chair. Rush followed up with Get The Horns for the win and to retain his ROH World Championship. The broadcast ended with The Foundation staring down La Faccion Ingobernable, teasing a power struggle in ROH.
We look at New Japan’s road to the Tokyo Dome and the first group of major shows in 2021 as the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at the realities of business, the set up, the announced matches, and the last few shows leading up to the Dome events. We also have complete coverage from the Budokan Hall show and Super J Cup.
The new issue also covers:
TLC show, Smackdown live and taped shows, new television shows being considered, WWE Network special offer, Bill Goldberg talks who he’d like to wrestle, details on a new contract negotiation, more about wrestlers being sent for regular training, upcoming NXT matches, Hall of Fame, injury updates, new signing, new TV show, international ratings, how WWE & AEW fare compared to sports programming, new TV character identified, WWE market value and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
UFC monopoly lawsuit and its ramifications on both the MMA and pro wrestling business regarding competition, ability to hold people to long-term contracts, and competitor pay, and the kind of money we are talking about and why.
A bio of Dr. Alfonso Morales, the legendary Lucha Libre and boxing announcer, who passed away this past week. We look at his background and legacy and why he became so good at what he did.
Major lawsuit involving Lucha Underground and AAA and money figures for streaming content that AAA has received.
UFC 256, with the background of the show, match-by-match coverage and the stories behind the show.
TripleMania, with business notes, popularity, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and the story behind the show.
Tokyo Sports awards for 2020 covering Japanese wrestling, as well as a history for some of the major awards.
Television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
We will have audio shows this weekend covering the ROH PPV, UFC, WWE TLC and then Raw. I’ll be doing a show with Garrett Gonzalez tonight covering all of the news of the past few days.
Paul Varelans, an MMA pioneer who did one match for ECW, is in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator from COVID-19 at Emory Midtown Hospital in Atlanta. As of the latest word, he couldn’t breathe on his own.
Smackdown tonight has The Street Profits vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, Bianca Belair vs. Bayley, plus Sami Zayn hosts the Sami Awards and Carmella has a champagne toast. The show airs tonight on FS 1 because FOX is airing the Pac-12 college football championship game. 205 Live has Jake Atlas vs. Tony Nese and Ever Rise vs. The Singh Brothers.
ROH tonight has a one-hour pre show at 8 p.m. Eastern followed by the PPV at 9 p.m. New matches will be announced on the preshow for the PPV. Matches scheduled right now are:
Tony Deppen vs. LSG vs. Josh Woods vs Dak Draper -winner gets a TV title match on the main show
Danhusen vs. Brian Johnson
Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus vs Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta in a pure rules tag team match
Mike Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Vincent Marseglia & Bpauateman
Jonathan Gresham vs. Flip Gordon for the Pure title
Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. PCO & Mark Briscoe for the tag titles
Dragon Lee defends the TV title against the winner of the four-way match
Rush vs. Brody King for the ROH title
We’re doing weekend polls for this show and for Sunday’s TLC show, you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
King will also be challenging for the U.S. title briefcase in a match with KENTA on New Japan Strong tomorrow night.
UFC weigh-ins for tomorrow’s ESPN+ show which starts at 4 p.m. Eastern:
Christos Giagos (159.5) vs. Carlton Minus (159) – this was set for so both made weight
Cody Durden (126) vs. Jimmy Flick (125)
Tafon Nchukwl (185) vs. Jamie Pickett (184.5)
Gillian Robertson (125) vs. Taila Santos (126)
Deron Winn (194.5) vs. Antonio Arroyo (194) – this was set for 195
Sijara Eubanks (136) vs. Pannie Kianzad (135.5)
Anthony Pettis (170) vs. Alex Morono (170.5)
Marcin Tybura (255) vs. Greg Hardy (266)
Marlon Moraes (135.5) vs. Rob Font (136)
Khaos Williams (169.5) vs. Michel Pereira (170)
Jose Aldo (136) vs. Marlon Vera (135)
Stephen Thompson (170) vs. Geoff Neal (171)
Wayne Coleman (Superstar Billy Graham) has been hospitalized due to an infection in his big toe.
WWE
Next week’s Smackdown show will be taped on Tuesday rather than have people tape on Christmas night.
The final episode of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ came out today and Sasha Banks is part of the episode.
From BetOnline.ag these are TLC odds:
Drew McIntyre -600 vs. A.J. Styles +350
Roman Reigns -2000 vs. Kevin Owens +650
Sasha Banks -500 vs. Carmella +300
Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin -200 vs. Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston +150
The Fiend -300 vs. Randy Orton +200
A cool piece of video of the Titus O’Neil foundation and Rob Elder Ford awarding a woman who worked at a local school a new care for Christmas.
Don Callis and Kenny Omega are guests on the current episode of Talk Is Jericho.
Red Velvet of AEW announced her engagement to Wes Brisco, the former WWE & TNA wrestler and son of Gerald Brisco.
OTHER NEWS NOTES
Jay Dumont, who is someone we all know from the website and Twitter, was diagnosed with lactic acidosis and was in ICU in the last 24 hours but is recovering.
Pat Laprade announced today that LuFisto, Yukon Eric and Henri Deglane are the new inductees into the Quebec Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. LuFisto becomes the first independent wrestler voted in and second woman in, after Vivian Vachon.
Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba defend the GHC tag titles against Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura tomorrow in Nagoya.
Miesha Tate is talking about coming out of retirement for a grappling match as opposed to an MMA fight, against Cris Cyborg. She isn’t going to return to MMA because contractually she still has six fights left with UFC and she’s an executive with ONE so it simply wouldn’t be feasible.
EC3 has confirmed that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
He revealed his positive diagnosis to Chris Van Vliet. As a result, he will not be a part of Ring of Honor’s Final Battle event this Friday.
“I’ve been quarantined for a week to 10 days,” he told Villet. “At this point, I have covid, and I’m at the tail end of it. It sucked a little bit. Some of it wasn’t bad. I’m healthy so I was fortunate. It infected my parents who were visiting me, whoops, so they had to stay longer so I’ve had no alone time.”
“I would say I’m at 90%,” he continued.”This is the tail end of it. I’ve had none of the respiratory issues. It felt like the flu and a moderately bad cold some of the time.”
Others that have been removed from this weekend’s event include Bandido, Flamita, and Kenny King.
EC3 made his debut for ROH several weeks ago, starting a feud with Jay Briscoe. After refusing to look him in the eye and extending his hand to adhere to the Code of Honor, Briscoe was DQ’d in after refusing to take his foot off EC3’s throat, angry that EC3 wouldn’t look at him.
The Big Takeaway: On the go-home episode for Final Battle, Mark Briscoe and PCO defeated The Bouncers, and Flip Gordon defeated Josh Woods. We also saw promos from Brian Johnson, Flip Gordon, Tracy Williams, and Taven/Bennett.
Quinn McKay welcomes us to the broadcast. She runs down tonight’s card, including Flip Gordon vs Josh Woods in a Pure Rules contest. Also, Mark Briscoe and PCO take on The Bouncers.
She also ran down the Final Battle card.
McKay then cut to a recap of the aftermath of the contest between Mike Bennett and Vincent last week. A promo that took place after the match aired featuring Bennett and Taven. Taven said that at Final Battle the original Kingdom will put an end to the feud with Vincent for good.
*****
A pre-match promo aired for The Bouncers. Beer City Bruiser claimed he has a legacy to live up to. Bruiser mentions that his tag partner Brian Milonas’ mentor is Killer Kowalski. Milonas mentions that they used to be the fun guys, but they’re now switching gears as a team and focusing on winning matches and tag team gold.
Another pre-match promo aired for Mark Briscoe and PCO. Mark Briscoe says he’s more than happy to throw down with the new version of the Bouncers. PCO says that they’ll rest in hell.
Mark Briscoe and PCO pinned The Bouncers (11:04)
Beer City Bruiser and Mark Briscoe began the contest. Briscoe laid in some elbows early, but Bruiser started a chopping war, which Bruiser won. Briscoe tagged in PCO. PCO came in hot and clotheslined Bruiser, which prompted a Milonas tag. PCO stayed on the attack, delivering constant knife-edge chops. Milonas gained control back with a crossbody and followed it up with a trip to the top rope. PCO brought him down quickly and delivered a knife-edge chop that sent Milonas out of the ring. We went to a commercial break.
Coming back from a commercial, PCO and Bruiser had another chopping war. With Bruiser down, Briscoe pulled him to the apron while PCO headed to the top. PCO dove off, but Bruiser rolled out of the way, causing PCO to hit hard on the apron. Bruiser eventually tagged Milonas in, who threw Briscoe into the turnbuckle. Milonas tagged Bruiser back in, who delivered a spine buster to Briscoe. Milonas went outside and tossed a chair into the ring, but Briscoe used it to his advantage, setting it up and springboarding onto Milonas and Bruiser at ringside. Briscoe rolled Bruiser back in and held him in place for a PCO assault for the pinfall victory.
Quinn McKay met the winners after the match. Briscoe said they’ll beat Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal at Final Battle. PCO says they’ll rest in hell.
*****
A promotional video aired for Final Battle. The package ran down the card, including matches like The Righteous vs. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, Danhausen vs. Brian Johnson, Flip Gordon vs. Jonathan Gresham, and Brody King vs. Rush.
*****
Flip Gordon cut a pre-match promo. He took off a mask with a bunch of holes in it. Gordon claimed he loves the competitive aspect of a Pure rules contest. He says while he’s failed at capturing ROH gold so far, it’s still his primary focus in ROH. Gordon said he wants to be known as more than a high-flyer.
Josh Woods also spoke before the match. He said the Jay Lethal victory has him at a loss for words and is easily the biggest win of his career. Woods said that Gordon’s style of wrestling doesn’t belong in a Pure Rules match.
Flip Gordon pinned Josh Woods in a Pure Rules contest (9:33)
Both men adhere to the Code Of Honor. Woods immediately caught Gordon in an ankle lock, causing Gordon to use his first rope break. Gordon took back the momentum and locked Woods in a side headlock. Gordon tossed Woods out of the ring and dove through the ropes for a suicide dive. Commentary sent us to a commercial break.
Back from the break and Gordon has Woods in an armbar. Gordon sent Woods to the corner and charged him with a forearm. Gordon got Woods on the ropes and began raining in elbows, which cost Gordon a rope break. Woods uses the argument between Gordon and the referee as an advantage, charging Gordon in the corner with a knee. Woods poached Gordon on the top rope, then followed him up there and delivered a superplex. Woods followed up the superplex with a gut-wrench powerbomb, and then tried to lock in a cloverleaf submission. Gordon escaped, went to the top rope, and delivered a moonsault for a two count. Gordon followed it up with a curb stomp for the pinfall victory.
Final Thoughts: On the final stop to Final Battle, ROH put together a good go-home show. It was nice to see The Bouncers have a new layer added to their characters.
I still just don’t understand the PCO and Mark Briscoe pairing. I understand they are two crazy dudes, but it just seems awkward. The Matt Taven and Mike Bennett pairing is working really well; Bennett is a hard working dude who deserves to constantly be on TV. Josh Woods is a guy who is really entertaining for me personally, and a great wrestler. So I most definitely wasn’t a fan of him getting little action versus Flip Gordon. Gordon controlled 85% of the match, which doesn’t make much sense after Woods beat Jay Lethal just two weeks ago. Nonetheless, I’m excited for Final Battle.
