Written By Kimmy Sokol
With 2021 coming to a close there is no doubt this has been a strong year for wrestling. Forbidden doors, dream matches come to life, and new companies on the rise, 2021 was a great year for wrestling. However, with all the positives comes the negatives — the waves of WWE releases and of course, Ring of Honor releasing its entire roster at the end of 2021 and going on hiatus ROH until reportedly April after that their signature event, Final Battle.
The event, which takes place Saturday night December 11 at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, is being marketed as “Our Final Battle.” ROH is re-branding its company after Final Battle and will be taking a hiatus until April of 2022. Although we do not know what this rebranding will look like I am certain that Ring of Honor will be going all out to make sure this is the best pay-per-view they put on all year.
There is a to-be-announced 10 man/person tag match that is supposed to go on during the pre-show, one has to speculate who will be on that whether it’s members of the current roster or maybe some cameos from ROH alumni.
Editor’s Update: After publication of this article ROH announced the following matches: The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) & Chelsea Green vs. The Allure (Mandy Leon & Angelina Love) & Miranda Alize and Rey Horrus vs. Dragon Lee.
Match 1: Eli Isom, Taylor Rust, and Tracy Williams vs. VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, and Tony Deppen)
This should be a fun match between six talented competitors. With the rumors that Brody King could be joining his fellow PWG Tag Team Partner Malakai Black in AEW, it will be interesting to see what happens. I believe VLNCE UNLTD will pick up the win for a hard-hitting six-man tag team match.
Match 2: Kenny King vs Shane Taylor
This match is just going to be straight-up fun. King and Taylor are two of ROH’s most talented superstars. In this collision between former Rebellion stablemates, Taylor can finally get retribution against King who nailed Taylor with a chair before their match at Death Before Dishonor. However, I think Kenny King gets the win in a grueling match up.
Match 3 – ROH Tag Team Title Match: The OGK (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) vs The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
When you think of tag team wrestling in ROH the first team that comes to mind is the Briscoe Brothers. They have been there since the first ROH event in 2002 (which Mark couldn’t legally wrestle on due to his age) and are the only two people on the active roster that hold that accolade. OGK recently won the tag team championships and successfully defended them at NWA’s Hard Times 2 pay-per-view last weekend. I can see this match going both ways, but for prestige purposes, I am going with the Briscoe Brothers.
Match 4 – ROH Pure Title Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
The pure division in ROH definitely got people talking about the company during the pandemic when it was restored after a multi-year hiatus. The pure division is what makes ROH different; focusing on the technical side of wrestling instead of flips and spots and if you are a huge fan of technical wrestling then these matches are definitely for you. The pure division matchups have always been match of the night calibers and this will be no different. I believe Josh Woods will retain his pure division championship.
Match 5 – ROH 6-Man Tag Title Match: Shane Taylor Promotions (Jasper Kaun, Moses Maddox, and O’Shay Edwards with Ron Hunt) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch with Vita VonStarr)
STP has been dominant ever since they won the six-man tag team championships in February. However, the Righteous have had an unbelievable 2021. From adding Vita’s power to the women’s division and Vincent going after Matt Taven’s career, there is no doubt they have the potential to be the future of ROH (and beyond?). I think STP retains their six-man tag team championships here, but the Righteous will put up a fight.
Match 6 – ROH World Television Title Match: Dalton Castle vs TBD
This match is for the ROH World Television Championship, but the interesting thing is who the TBD is. Could it possibly be someone that was recently released from WWE, or even someone who is notable to ROH for nostalgia purposes? I am going to take a wild card and predict the TBD is currently IWTV Independent Champion, Alex Shelley. He’s had a notable run in Ring of Honor. He was a part of early stables Generation Next and The Embassy (where he held the six-man titles with Abyss and Jimmy Rave) as well as the Tag Belts with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns. No matter who the TBD is, Dalton Castle will retain his Television Championship.
Editor’s Update: After publishing the article, it was announced that Dalton Castle would face Silas Young, Rhett Titus and Joe Hendry in a four-way. The prediction of Dalton as the winner, does in fact, remain in tact for our writer.
Match 7 – ROH Women’s Title Match: Rok-C vs Willow Nightingale
This match is gonna rule. Rok-C has been defending the ROH Women’s Championship across the country in different independent promotions. Willow has been trying to make a name for herself too. “The babe with the power” has been running the independent scene as well as the national scene — recently being featured on AEW Dark and MLW Fusion. The sad thing with ROH taking a hiatus is the women’s division they have worked all year to build is being paused once again. Maria Kanellis Bennett has been at the forefront of this division and one has to hope that the reboot makes this division stronger. For this match I am going with Rok-C to continue her dominant run in 2022.
Main Event – ROH World Title Match: Bandido vs Jonathan Gresham
Gresham has carried the ROH through most of 2021 and a lot of people are wondering if he stays or leaves after Final Battle. Gresham is running his own event January 16th in Atlanta named Terminus. Bandido recently won the ROH world title at Death Before Dishonor and has had a decent run with the title, but he’s also been elsewhere — notably GCW and AAA. This match is between two amazing wrestlers and this match will be phenomenal. I think Gresham will win the title in a hard fought match and carry the ROH brand strong until the reboot in April.
