Tag: roh final battle 2024

Bandido suffered concussion at ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Just as quick as he returned, Bandido is already injured.

Dave Meltzer is reporting that Bandido suffered a concussion upon his return at Final Battle, making the save for Matt Cardona by going after Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith.

“We are told Bandido did suffer a concussion Friday night from landing on the back of his head doing a missile dropkick after the Chris Jericho win over Matt Cardona,” Meltzer wrote in Sunday’s daily update. “Obviously Jericho vs. Bandido was scheduled in an ROH title match at some point. With concussions, you don’t know what it means as far as how long someone will be out of action.”

Upon making his return, Bandido went to the top rope and took out Jericho with the dropkick, landing on his head. He managed to recover and take out the rest of The Learning Tree to end the segment.

Bandido had been out of action since last summer dealing with a wrist injury that needed surgery on twice. In the weeks prior to Final Battle, vignettes aired on AEW television building to Bandido’s return.

ROH Final Battle media scrum notes: Athena, Komander, Tony Khan talk to press

Posted on by Bryan Rose

ROH Champions talked to the press following Friday’s Final Battle event.

Red Velvet, Komander, Lee Moriarty, Athena, and Tony Khan all spoke to the media following the event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Here are the highlights:

ROH Women’s Television Champion Red Velvet

  • When asked who she’d like to face next, Red Velvet called out Mercedes Mone. Tony Khan brought up wrestlers from Stardom as potential opponents as well.

New ROH Television Champion Komander

  • Thanked everyone who stood behind him and deep down, that is what keeps him going.
  • When asked about ‘stealing the show’, Komander said that everyone works hard in ROH and AEW.
  • In his world, he says that he gives back everything he is given. He says he was a premature baby and almost died twice, so he has to keep going and help others. He said he would never give up and keep trying.
  • Tony Khan brought up the potential of a match between Komander and former TV Champion Atlantis Jr.

ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty

  • Moriarty said that wrestling Nigel McGuiness at Final Battle was a surreal moment, saying he never expected it to happen.
  • One person asked which ROH legend is next for him. Moriarty said it was hard to say but he’s had opportunities to wrestle Bryan Danielson, Katsuyori Shibata, and Adam Copeland so it’s something that he doesn’t take for granted.
  • He may have a potential solo show in the future for his artwork. 

ROH Women’s Champion Athena

  • Athena said she is looking forward to going to Japan for Wrestle Dynasty and may spend a little more time in Japan after the event.
  • Promoting the Boxing Day edition of ROH, Athena teased a member of her minions group may be expelled. Earlier in the interview, she praised Red Velvet for the way she retained the ROH Women’s Television title.

Tony Khan

  • Khan mentioned this was the first time he’s been to the Hammerstein Ballroom and would love to come back for future events.
  • When Bandido’s name was brought up, Khan said that he originally wanted Bandido when he launched AEW in 2019, but instead he made the choice to sign with ROH. Khan said he has since become a great asset to both ROH and AEW.
  • Mike Johnson of PWInsider asked about a television deal for ROH, asking Khan where they were in the yard line. Khan said that they’ve had a lot of great conversations regarding a potential ROH television deal. He pushed the simulcast of AEW Fight for the Fallen Dynamite before saying that he couldn’t say where a deal would be on a proverbial yard line.

Komander wins Television title at ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Komander is a champion in ROH.

The Continental Classic participant won the title for the first time at Friday’s Final Battle event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. A new champion became inevitable in the Survival of the Fittest six-man elimination match when Mark Davis pinned Brian Cage towards the end of the match after AR Fox and Willie Mack had been eliminated. Davis was quickly pinned by Blake Christian, leaving the match between him and Komander. After some strong back and forth, it was Komander who won the match after hitting a ropewalk shooting star press.

Announcers mentioned that it was at last year’s Final Battle that Komander came close to winning that Survival of the Fittest match, but ended up being pinned last thanks to Kyle Fletcher, who became the new champion.

Komander currently is part of the AEW Continental Classic, where he has yet to win a match in the Gold League. On the taped episode of Rampage that aired Friday, he lost to Brody King. He’s next set to face Claudio Castagnoli on this Wednesday’s Dynamite.

Danhausen returns at ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Danhausen has returned.

Towards the Atlantis Jr./Mansoor match that opened Friday’s ROH Final Battle event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, Danhausen crawled out of the ring and confronted Mason Madden at ringside, low blowing him. Later, Danhausen placed a curse on the MXM member, laying him out after dousing Madden with teeth. The distractions eventually led to a victory for Atlantis Jr.

Danhausen hasn’t been seen on AEW television since appearing at Worlds End 2023. He also made an appearance in ROH in February, defeating Brandon Cutler in a television match. In a November report from Fightful Select, it was said that Danhausen and AEW hadn’t been in contact with one another for over six months aside from getting approval for independent dates. 

A new t-shirt for Danhausen had also appeared recently on ShopAEW.

During his time away, Danhausen has worked the independent scene, including matches for GCW, Glory Pro, OTT, Progress, and Black Label Pro.

Matt Cardona: ROH Final Battle is ‘the opportunity I’ve been waiting for’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Matt Cardona is determined to prove himself at ROH Final Battle.

At tonight’s pay-per-view from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Cardona will challenge Chris Jericho for the ROH World Championship. Ahead of the match, Cardona spoke to The Takedown and explained what this moment means to him. He sees it as arguably the biggest opportunity of his career so far and knows that he needs to deliver.

“This is arguably the biggest opportunity of my career.,” Cardona said. “These past five years, everybody has seen it, unless you’ve been living under a rock. I have been working my ass off to reinvent myself to prove that I’m ‘Alwayz Ready,’ to prove that I’m the ‘Indie God,’ to prove that I’m the ‘Death Match King,’ to prove that I am ‘The Complete.’

“Now it’s put up or shut up. Here it is, the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. Pay-per-view in New York City against Chris Jericho. One of the guys who inspired me to get into the business with a World title on the line. This is it. This is the opportunity. It’s in my backyard. I’m protecting my turf. Jericho says he’s the King of New York. Come on, that’s BS. Maybe he was born there. Maybe his dad played for the Rangers. But he is not the King of New York. If anybody’s the King of New York, it’s me.”

The only other time Jericho and Cardona have faced each other one-on-one was a quick match for WWE in 2016, when Cardona was still known as Zack Ryder. Jericho had high praise for Cardona in an interview with Busted Open Radio recently, comparing him to Bret Hart in the way that Cardona is a “meat and potatoes” wrestler where everything he does looks solid.

Dave Meltzer reported earlier this week that Cardona has been offered an AEW contract, but it’s not known if he has signed that deal. Cardona told The Takedown that his focus right now is solely on Final Battle.

“Listen, I cannot think about the future,” Cardona said. “I need to think one show at a time.

“I can’t be looking ahead. I need to focus day-by-day. That with independence, that’s what’s made me so successful is that I’m treating each opportunity like it’s the biggest deal. Because if I don’t treat it like it’s a big deal, then it’s not a big deal. So I go all in on every single thing that I do. I take one match at a time, one day at a time.”

Six new matches announced for ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Six new matches are on tap for Friday’s ROH Final Battle special streaming on Honor Club.

The new bouts for Friday’s show were revealed during Thursday’s Ring of Honor TV go-home show, including Katusyori Shibata facing “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington. Billington was last in action for AEW at All In at Wembley Stadium this past August.

Former ROH TV Champion Atlantis Jr. of CMLL will also be on action on Friday’s show, taking on Mansoor of MxM Collection.

Four of the six new bouts announced are set for Friday’s Zero Hour pre-show streaming on the ROH social media channels, including Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) facing Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds & John Silver.

Also set for Zero Hour, Harley Cameron will face Stardom’s Hanako. The Undisputed Kingdom’s Mike Bennett & Matt Taven will also face The Infantry’s Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo on the pre-show.

Rounding out the new match announcements for Friday, Lee Johnson & EJ Nduka will face Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) in tag team action on Zero Hour.

The finalized Ring of Honor Final Battle card:

ROH Final Battle, Friday, December 20, 7 p.m. Eastern time on Honor Club:

  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Billie Starkz
  • ROH World Champion Chris Jericho defends against Matt Cardona
  • Survival of the Fittest match for the ROH TV Championship: Brian Cage vs. Mark Davis vs. Willie Mack vs. AR Fox vs. Blake Christian vs. Komander
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against TBA
  • ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defends against Leyla Hirsch
  • Texas Bullrope match: ROH Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara defend against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
  • Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billington
  • Mansoor vs. Atlantis Jr.
  • Jay Lethal vs. QT Marshall
  • Zero Hour: Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) vs. The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
  • Zero Hour: Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) vs. Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver)
  • Zero Hour: Lee Johnson & EJ Nduka vs. Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
  • Zero Hour: Harley Cameron vs. Hanako

Lee Moriarty issues Pure title open challenge for ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Matt Boone

The lineup for ROH Final Battle 2024 continued to take shape on Saturday night.

During the taped episode of AEW Collision: Winter is Coming on TNT on December 14, it was announced by the commentary team of Tony Schiavone, Excalibur and Matt Menard that the ROH Pure Championship will be on the line at the upcoming year-end ROH Wrestling pay-per-view event. A graphic was shown that Lee Moriarty had issued an open challenge to “anybody” for his ROH Pure title on December 20.

“Open Challenge! Ready for any and every style of wrestler that might step up,” Moriarty wrote via X after the announcement was made. “Let’s keep pushing the Pure Division forward.”

https://twitter.com/theleemoriarty/status/1868116313312297417

ROH Final Battle 2024 is scheduled to take place live on Friday, December 20, from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, featuring the following advertised lineup:

  • Chris Jericho (c) vs. Matt Cardona (ROH Title)
  • Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz (ROH Women’s Title)
  • Red Velvet (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch (ROH Women’s TV Title)
  • Lee Moriarty (c) vs. TBA (ROH Pure Title)QT Marshall vs. Jay Lethal
  • Sons Of Texas (c) vs. The Righteous in a Texas Bullrope match (ROH Tag Titles)
  • Brian Cage (c) vs. Willie Mack vs. Komander vs. Mark Davis vs. AR Fox vs. Blake Christian in a Survival of the Fittest match (ROH TV Title)

Spoiler: Chris Jericho’s ROH Final Battle challenger revealed

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Chris Jericho’s ROH World title challenger at Final Battle has been revealed.

Matt Cardona made a surprise appearance at Wednesday night’s Ring of Honor TV and AEW Dynamite taping in Fishers, Indiana to confront Jericho and challenge him to an ROH World title match at Final Battle on December 20.

The challenge came on a TV Time with Chris Jericho segment taped for Ring of Honor TV following Wednesday’s live Dynamite episode. In the segment, Jericho was accompanied by Bryan Keith, noting that Big Bill was in Nepal studying.

Notes on the segment from our Jim Valley:

Chris Jericho came out with Bryan Keith. Chris Jericho said Big Bill was sent to Nepal to study the lessons of The Learning Tree.

Chris says at Final Battle he wants to face someone from New York. He lists, among others, Tony Soprano, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Rodz.

Out comes Matt Cardona. 

Chris says, If it isn’t Zack…” and Cardona grabs the mic and says “Zack is dead. The man who’s going to beat you at Final Battle is Matt Cardona”

“Nice hat!” as Matt knocked Jericho’s cowboy hat off his head and backed out of the ring and down the aisle to end the segment.

Cardona last wrestled for AEW in March on Collision as a surprise challenger for then-TNT Champion Adam Copeland.

Jericho defending the ROH World title against Cardona is the second match official for the Honor Club special set for Friday, December 20. ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet defending her title against Leyla Hirsch is already official for the show.