Nearly a week removed from Final Battle, Dax Harwood is reflecting on FTR and The Briscoes’ “masterpiece” double dog collar match.
FTR and The Briscoes completed their trilogy as The Briscoes won the ROH Tag Team titles at Final Battle last Saturday. The dog collar match was rated five and a half stars by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In a social media post on Thursday, Harwood wrote that, over every match he’s had in his career, the dog collar match is the one he’s most proud of.
Artists have the one piece they’re the most proud of, and that’s their Masterpiece. This was my Masterpiece. Watching it, honest to God, I’ve laughed, I’ve cringed, and I’ve cried. Over every other match I’ve had, this is the one I’m the most proud of.
2022 has been a storybook year for me. Almost unbelievable at times. Through anger, frustration, joy, and pain, it’s been the greatest year of my life. Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of yours. I hope we could make it a little bit better.
2023 is going to be unknown territory, and I’m not even sure that we can match up to what we’ve done this year, but you all have my word, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re just as entertained as ever.
Harwood & Cash Wheeler’s ROH Tag Team title reign began when they defeated The Briscoes at Supercard of Honor this April. They also defeated The Briscoes in a two-out-of-three falls match at Death Before Dishonor in July.
By defeating FTR at Final Battle, The Briscoes became 13-time ROH Tag Team Champions.
FTR are still the IWGP and AAA Tag Team Champions. They’re set to defend the AAA titles against Dragon Lee & Dralistico in Mexico later this month. In January, FTR will defend the IWGP Tag Team titles against Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
The early pay-per-view buy estimates are in for last Saturday’s Ring of Honor Final Battle.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that based on the first week estimates, the show did more than 25,000 PPV buys, comprised of 19,000 via streaming platforms and 6400 on linear platforms.
He noted the linear number could increase by anywhere from five to ten percent when the final tallies are in.
While the number is up from April’s Supercard of Honor’s 23,000 buys, even with a ten percent increase, the show would be down from July’s Death Before Dishonor which generated 37,000 buys.
While April’s show was on a crowded Friday during WrestleMania weekend, this past Saturday’s show was the first in the Tony Khan era to be held in the afternoon. The night was also a busy one with NXT Deadline and a UFC pay-per-view.
The buys, the attendance and the live gate were the highest in the 21-event history of Final Battle.
A Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli rematch for the ROH title headlined the show with FTR vs. The Briscoes in a double dog collar trilogy match for the ROH Tag Team titles announced on the Wednesday before the show.
Three titles changed hands at ROH’s Final Battle event on Saturday.
Athena defeated Mercedes Martinez to capture the ROH Women’s title, Wheeler Yuta regained the ROH Pure Championship from Daniel Garcia, and The Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Leona, and Kaun) won the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles, defeating Dalton Castle and The Boys.
Athena defeated Martinez with the eclipse to win the ROH Women’s Championship for the first time. The match was made after Martinez confronted Athena on a recent episode of AEW Rampage, where in recent weeks Athena has shown more of a dangerous streak in the way she handles her opponents.
Wheeler Yuta won his trilogy with Daniel Garcia, capturing the ROH Pure Championship for a second time. Yuta gave Garcia a piledriver, then struck Garcia with a series of elbows to Garcia’s jaw, causing Garcia to pass out and allowing Yuta the victory.
The Embassy won their first championship under this iteration of the group on Saturday, with Cage pinning Brent Tate after Kaun swung Tate into Cage, who delivered a powerbomb to score the pinfall victory.
In addition to these title victories, Claudio Castagnoli regained the ROH World Championship from Chris Jericho, and The Briscoes won the ROH Tag Team titles, defeating FTR.
The Briscoes are once again the ROH World Tag Team Champions.
Mark and Jay Briscoe defeated FTR in a double dog collar match at Saturday’s Final Battle event to win the championships for the thirteenth time. In a match so bloody that even one of the referees bled, Jay Briscoe got the submission victory over Dax Harwood after Harwood passed out from a crossface, with Jay using the chain for leverage as Mark prevented Cash Wheeler from entering the ring.
This was the third match between FTR and the Briscoes this year. At Supercard of Honor back in April, FTR defeated the Brisoces to win the titles for the first time. In July, the two teams met again in a 2 out of 3 falls match, with FTR retaining. With their loss tonight, FTR’s run with the titles ends at 253 days.
The third match in the trilogy was made after Austin and Colten Gunn announced at the end of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite that The Briscoes had issued a double dog collar challenge to FTR for Final Battle. After the match Saturday, The Gunns ran in through the crowd and attacked FTR. The two cut a promo saying FTR’s legacy was dying, and they would be the ones to end it.
A new tag team match featuring the promotional return of Dralistico will take place at Saturday’s ROH Final Battle.
Rush and Dralistico will take on new AEW signee AR Fox and Blake Christian. On Wednesday, Rush teased his brother arriving in AEW via a phone call between himself, Dralistico, and Jose The Assistant.
Wrestling under the Mistico name for CMLL, Dralistico previously wrestled for ROH back in August of 2017.
In addition, four new matches have been added to the Zero Hour pre-show.
Willow Nightingale will face Trish Adora, The Kingdom will take on Top Flight, “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard and “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker will take on Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger and Eli Isom), and Mascara Dorada will face Jeff Cobb.
Here is the updated lineup for Final Battle this Saturday:
Main card:
ROH Champion Chris Jericho defends against Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Tag Team Champions FTR defend against The Briscoes in a double dog collar match
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against Juice Robinson
ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defends against Athena
ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia defends against Wheeler Yuta
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defend against The Embassy
Swerve in our Glory vs. Shane Taylor & JD Griffey
Rush & Dralistico vs. AR Fox & Blake Christian
Zero Hour pre-show:
Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora
The Kingdom vs. Top Flight
Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad
It’s a brand new episode of We’re Live, Pal! as Andrew Zarian and I talk the latest news in professional wrestling.
We focus on the following:
The Christmas season and holiday parties
William Regal’s departure from AEW
Why Tony Khan seems to want to talk about this situation
Rampage’s low rating
ROH: Final Battle
The 1995 Wrestling Observer Yearbook
You can watch the show above, or you can listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts in addition to the link below.
How the rules have changed and what did and didn’t work this year
The copies of War Games
Why WWE didn’t do War Games on the main roster, and why they started it on NXT
Business notes on how the show did, live, streaming, PPV
Crossover audience between War Games and Full Gear and Crown Jewel
Full show coverage with poll results
The story behind William Regal’s AEW departure
Why many questioned the MJF booking
Best of Seven notes
PPV number updates, as well as updates on the last four AEW PPV shows
Who bought Full Gear, Forbidden Door or All Out and patterns
Revenue, movie gate numbers and more
Notes behind the title changes
Match by match coverage and poll results on the show
Updates on the Royal rumble, ticket sales and more notes
New Japan and Stardom Historic X Over
The story behind Kairi winning the IWGP title and not Mayu Iwatani
The story behind Omega vs. Ospreay
Match by match coverage and poll results
C.M. Punk mocks the brawl, Young Bucks & Kenny Omega mock C.M. Punk, and more
TV ratings over the past two weeks, including where AEW faltered this week and did great the week earlier and it’s the same group, the huge drop during the show of Raw, what about Smackdown was the best of the year for the show, and where wrestling ranked in the sports charts and the entertainment charts the past two weeks
Wrestling legend gets honored by an international embassy
Cain Velasquez wrestling and the story behind it
Stardom PPV show coverage
Updates on all the traditional Japanese tournaments
Update on Kota Ibushi
Fantastica Mania news
Generational legends battle this past week
Ricky Steamboat comes out of retirement
Plan for a statue of iconic wrestler to be built in his home town
Battle of Los Angeles news
Mayor Glenn Jacobs in the middle of controversy
Injury changes the winner of a tournament
Major WWE legend coming out of retirement in December
One of the most well traveled wrestlers of all-time passes away
Former ECW and WWE star retiring
Thoughts on wrestlers whose contracts are coming due
New angle off television for recently signed AEW wrestler
International TV ratings
AEW & WWE streaming numbers
Lots of new UFC main events
Conor McGregor gets sued twice
UFC gaming controversy
MMA returns to CBS prime time
PFL season finale
Paul Levesque talks WWE future
Big stock rise for WWE and why
Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon talk WWE business, international, buying companies and more
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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Monday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw, the record low ratings for AEW Rampage, Barry Windham and the rest of the news.
Raw tonight is from Washington, DC. They had a good advance of more than 7,000. Bayley vs. Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross have been announced. These bouts are to lead to a Raw women’s title defense by Bianca Belair. Also The Usos vs. Matt Riddle & Elias for the tag titles. Also announced is the JBL Invitational poker tournament. Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa will be there with the Usos. The NFL game is the New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Bucs. Again both teams are below .500 but it’s still Tom Brady who is one of the biggest stars in the modern era.
AEW sent out a press release for Saturday’s ROH PPV show which starts at 4 p.m. Eastern. Keith Lee’s mystery partner is officially Swerve Strickland against Shane Taylor & JD Griffey. There will be a pre-show at 3 p.m. Eastern. Most of the show will be announced on Wednesday’s Dynamite. The show is priced at $39.99.
We’re looking for reports from tonight’s show from a live perspective with any Main Event and dark matches to [email protected]
Jon Moxley has been added to Wednesday’s Dynamite show. Well he has to be. They need to have interviews with Moxley and Adam Page.
NXT tomorrow is the go-home show for Saturday’s deadline with the wild card matches to determine the final participant in the men and women’s Iron Survivor match. The men’s qualifier is Andre Chase vs. Axiom vs. Von Wagner and the women’s qualifier is Wendy Choo vs. Fallon Henley vs. Indi Hartwell, plus Pretty Deadly performs “A Christmas Story” and Tony D’Angelo, who Saturday night returned from his knee injury, will make his TV return inside the ring.
WWE results from last night in Petersburg, VA: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson b Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest with Finn Balor and Mia Yim in the corners, with Yim bodyslamming Balor to a big pop, Emma b Xia Li, Gunther b Shinsuke Nakamura to keep the IC title, Ridge Holland & Butch b Usos via DQ in a tag title match with Sami Zayn interfering, Holland & Butch & Kevin Owens NC Usos & Zayn when Solo Sikoa and Braun Strowman interfere, Strowman & Owens & Holland & Butch b Usos & Zayn & Sikoa when Owens pinned Jey after a stunner, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky kept the tag titles over Asuka & Mia Yim dud to distraction from Bayley, Elias & Matt Riddle b Giovanni Vinci & Ludvig Kaiser, Austin Theory b Seth Rollins to keep the US title with a low blow but Rollins laid out Theory with a curb stomp after the match when Theory tried a post-match attack with a belt shot (thanks to Gene Restaino and Joshua Fer). Said to be very enjoyable.
New Japan has the Super Junior tag tournament on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. from Sasebo with Kushida & Kevin Knight vs. TJP & Francesco Akira, Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors vs. Yoh & Lio Rush, Sho & Dick Togo vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Douki, Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs Bushi & Titan and Alex Zayne & Lindaman vs. Chris Bey & Ace Austin which is a battle for the top spot right now.
Ronda Rousey has been officially announced for the RAID: Show Legends” video game as a free character seven days after logging into the game.
Due to an undisclosed injury, Robbie Lawlor is out of his Saturday UFC 282 PPV fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Adriano Moraes for the ONE flyweight tile was announced for the promotion’s U.S. debut on May 5 in Broomfield, CO. This will be the third match between the two with each having a knockout win.
Kevin Holland will need surgery for multiple breaks in his hand in Saturday’s main event with Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. Holland lost the fight in the fourth round via stoppage but bought most of those four rounds after breaking his hand on a punch early in round one.
Zhang Weili was on the MMA Hour today and said she wanted a fight against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. She said the fight is a must. She didn’t guarantee a win but did guarantee a great fight.
Other Notes
Battleground Championship Wrestling on 12/17 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia is a tribute to the Extreme with Rob Van Dam vs. Rhino, Bully Ray (with Devon in his corner) vs. Matt Cardona, 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Rich Swann, Super Crazy vs. Juventud Guerrera, Al Snow vs Gangrel, FBI vs. Afa Jr. & Beastman and more.
LFA announced its first show of the year on 1/6 in Chandler, AZ at the Gila Resorts & Casinos Wild Horse Pass Casino headlined by a match for the flyweight title with Felipe Bunes (12-6) of Brazil vs. Yuma Horiuchi (10-5) of Japan. The show airs live on UFC Fight Pass.
Lex Luger will be appearing at Squared Circles Collectibles in Winchester, VA on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and $10 from every combo will be sent for Barry Windham’s medical expenses.
Chael Sonnen will be hosting the World MMA Awards show on Thursday from the Sahara in Las Vegas. The show will air live on ESPN+. Some of the nominees for the major awards are:
Charles Mask Lewis Male Fighter of the Year: Alexander Volkanovski, Johnny Eblen, Charles Oliveira, Islam Makhachev, Francis Ngannou
Female Fighter of the Year: Julianna Pena, Cris Cyborg, Kayla Harrison, Valentina Shevchenko, Raquel Pennington
Fight of the year: Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixiera, Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler, Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega, Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez
KO of the year: Michael Chandler (vs. Tony Ferguson), Ignacio Bahomondes (vs. Roosevelt Roberts), Sergio Pettis (vs. Kyoji Horiguchi), Molly McCann (vs. Luana Carolina) and roman Faraldo (vs. Robert Turnquest)
Submission of the Year: Jiri Prochazka (vs. Glover Teixeira), Stevie Ray (vs. Anthony Pettis), Oliver Enkamp (vs. Mark Lemminger), Jessica Andrade (vs. Amanda Lemos), charlies Oliveira (vs. Dustin Poirier).
Central States Wrestling on Saturday night in Kansas City at the National Guard Armory at 100 S. 20th Street) with an Ultimate Jeopardy cage match with The Howletts vs. The Premiere. If the Howletts lose, they must break up and leave the promotion forever. If the Premiere loses, Coach Frass gets five minutes in a cage with Roscoe Leech Ace Steel is also guest referee of the Dak Draper vs. Jeremy Wyatt match for the Central States title.
Peacock is adding new ICW, Progress and wXw shows on Saturday.
The ROH Women’s Championship will be on the line at Final Battle.
AEW posted to social media on Thursday that Mercedes Martinez will defend her title against Athena on the show.
“In a battle of two of the toughest, @ringofhonor Women’s World Champ @RealMMartinez faces @AthenaPalmer_FG @ Final Battle LIVE on PPV, 12/10 in Arlington!” AEW wrote on Twitter.
An angle between the two took place on the November 18 (taped November 16) edition of AEW Rampage. After Athena defeated Madison Rayne, she continued to attack her opponent after the bell until referee Aubrey Edwards tried to pull her away. Athena then struck Edwards and Martinez eventually came out to make the save after Athena had turned her attention back to Rayne. Martinez had her first match in four months earlier that night during the Dark Elevation taping. She had been out since July win an undisclosed injury.
Martinez will be going for her sixth successful title defense to tie Deonna Purrazzo for second all-time behind only Rok-C (Roxanne Perez) who defended the belt eight times.
The show will take place a one-hour drive from Athena’s hometown of Garland, Texas.
ROH Final Battle takes place Saturday, December 10, from the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas with a special start time of 4 p.m. Eastern time. Three matches have been confirmed for the show.
ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Women’s Championship: Mercedes Martinez (c) vs. Athena
ROH Pure Championship: Daniel Garcia (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta
A match for the ROH Pure Championship is set for Final Battle.
Daniel Garcia will defend the championship against Wheeler Yuta in what will be the rubber match between the two on December 10. The match was set up on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite after Yuta challenged Garcia during a sit-down interview between members of the Jericho Appreciation Society and the Blackpool Combat Club.
During the promo, members of the JAS taunted Claudio Castagnoli, who is set to face Chris Jericho at the show for the ROH Championship. Hager threw a purple hat at Castagnoli, saying he could wear it after the loses at Final Battle. Yuta and Garcia then went back and forth, with Yuta issuing the challenge.
Yuta successfully defended the Pure title against Garcia at Death Before Dishonor in July. On the September 7 edition of AEW Dynamite, however, Garcia won the championship in a rematch.
Here is the updated card for ROH Final Battle:
ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Pure Championship: Daniel Garcia (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta
Chris Jericho will defend the ROH World Championship against Claudio Castagnoli at Final Battle, which will take place on December 10.
The match was set up on Friday’s Rampage, where Castagnoli asked Jericho to give him another championship match. Jericho initially rejected Castagnoli’s offer. However, Matt Menard suggested to Jericho that since Castagnoli was once a sports entertainer, he could join the group if he were to lose to Jericho. Jericho agreed to the stipulation, setting the stage for Final Battle.
Castagnoli, who won the title earlier this year for the first time, lost the championship to Jericho back at Dynamite Grand Slam in September. Since then, Jericho has become a dominant champion, defeating former ROH champions such as Bandido, Bryan Danielson, and Colt Cabana.
At Full Gear, Castagnoli was unsuccessful in regaining the championship, losing a four-way match that involved Jericho, Danielson, and Sammy Guevara.
