The final ROH pay-per-view has come and gone, and what a show we had. Now say what you want about ROH, but every single person who wrestled on this card delivered this past weekend. There were many matches that you can put into contention of being your match of the year, we had new champions crowned, and even some surprises. So with all of that being said, let’s review this year’s Final Battle.
Zero-Hour:
Jazmin Allure vs Taya Valkyrie: So happy for Jazmin Allure! Valkyrie dominated most of this match, but Allure had a great showing. It seems as if Valkyrie will be a mainstay in ROH, so maybe she will be the next challenger for the ROH Women’s title.
Winner: Taya Valkyrie
Marshall and Ross Von Erich vs The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum): This was a fun treat for the Texas crowd. I would not mind seeing them wrestle more within ROH, once we get the Tag Team title situation covered. Kevin Von Erich came out after the match to celebrate their big win with both of his sons.
Winners: Marshall and Ross Von Erich
Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Bryan Keith vs Jack Cartwheel: We went from announcing the last participant on ROH TV to it being a surprise to us to have a qualifier match on zero hour… Tony Khan ladies and gentlemen. Cartwheel was so impressive in this match, he was pulling out moves that I do not think anyone has seen before. Unfortunately, it was not good enough as Keith took his opportunity and got the huge win, he advanced to the six-way match to crown a new TV Champion.
Winner: Bryan Keith
Tony Khan Promo: Khan comes out to thank the crowd and also runs down Jay Brsicoe’s accomplishments at Final Battle. He introduces the next match as Daniel Garcia vs Blake Christian.
Daniel Garcia vs Blake Christian: This was the best match on zero hour and I am not just saying that because Daniel Garcia was in it. The crowd was invested in this match as it was the only match on Zero Hour that got this is awesome chants. I am shocked we have not seen Christian in ROH more often, but he does a lot on the independent scene, so I get it. Garcia gets the win as he heads into his next Continental Classic match against Kingston.
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Eddie Kingston Promo: Tony Khan puts over the last match when Kingston interrupts him. He asks Khan why he is not on the show and he explains it is because of the Continental Classic. Anthony Henry interrupts and asks for a shot at Kingston on the show. The match is announced as a Proving Grounds match and if Henry wins he will face the winner of the Continental Classic. Not happy about the title not being defended, but I guess it is all about the small victories.
Main Show:
Triple A Mega Championship: El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Black Taurus: What a way to start the card. Taurus dominated most of the match with his strength, but Vikingo brought the fight. He was pulling out all of the stops to make sure that he still walked out of Texas champion, which he was able to do.
Winner: “And Still” El Hijo Del Vikingo
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Brian Cage and Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) vs TMDK (Shane Haste, Tito Escondido, and Kosei Fujita): I had very low expectations for this match, but I was very shocked. This match has to be the longest match the champions have had in ROH, which is a good thing. TMDK showed out on this show and I hope we see them more often in ROH. The question next is who is going to be the ones the dethrone the champions and I believe Top Flight and Action Andretti are the perfect team to do it.
Winners: “And Still” Brian Cage and Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun)
I Quit Match: Ethan Page vs Tony Nese: I loved the fact that Sterling had a matching suit for Nese’s gear. Sterling did not want to be handcuffed to the post and Mark Henry came out to make sure that the stipulation was adhered to. This match was fun. Nese begged Bobby Cruise for the keys to the handcuffs and after a while, it was a two-on-one assault. Out of nowhere Scorpio Sky comes out and saves his best friend. Page gets the win as he chokes out Nese with the handcuffs. After the match was over Sky, Henry, and Page all celebrated.
Winner: Ethan Page
Nyla Rose vs Vertvixen: This was a squash match, but I am happy that Vertvixen got the opportunity to wrestle on an ROH pay-per-view.
Winner: Nyla Rose
Survival of the Fittest Finals for the Vacant ROH Television Championship: Dalton Castle vs Komander vs Kyle Fletcher vs Lee Johnson vs Lee Moriarty vs Bryan Keith: Seems as if Fletcher’s paint was a tribute to his girlfriend’s new darker character with the red mist all over his shoulder. This match ruled. All six men got the opportunity to shine throughout the match. Castle getting eliminated early was shocking because he was the favorite to win, but to continue the ongoing storyline Johnny TV was the one who cost him, even though his shoulder was up. The final two came down to Fletcher and Komander and that was a crazy dynamic. Go watch this one and I am sure Don Callis is happy that someone in his family is finally a champion.
Winner: “And New” Kyle Fletcher
Pure Rules Championship: Wheeler Yuta vs Tom Lawlor: We all know how I feel about Pure Rules. I was happy Lawlor got the opportunity to be on the ROH pay-per-view, but these matches are not my style. I was also impressed because this style of wrestling is not something we usually see out of Lawlor, but he delivered within this match. There was no way Yuta was going to lose the title here, as he retained and repped the BCC fairly well. After the match was over Yuta beat down Lawlor and Hook came out to make the save but Yuta hit him with a low blow. My assumption is at World’s End we will get the pure rules match between Hook and Yuta.
Winner: “And Still” Wheeler Yuta
Shane Taylor vs Keith Lee: Taylor got a special entrance with two people raising the STP flag as well as his family being there in the front row cheering him on. Both of these men pulled out all of the stops in this one. The definition of this match was big men slapping meat. The Canadian Destroyer of the top rope was insane and even Moriarity was not able to stop Lee as Lee just tossed him out of the ring. Lee gets the win and offers the Code of Honor to Taylor after the match as he receives a standing ovation in front of his hometown.
Winner: Keith Lee
Bryan Keith Promo: Keith says that he is here to collect gold and he is here to prove himself. Orange Cassidy interrupts and says he has gold right here to collect and he challenges him to a match on Collision, Keith accepts.
Jay Briscoe Memorial Fight Without Honor: BCC (Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, and Jon Moxley) vs FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Mark Briscoe: At the beginning of the match, Harwood went up to someone in the crowd and called them out for being on their phone, which was entertaining. One of the things that confused me about this match was that they had announced this was already a Fight Without Honor match ahead of time. They did a spot where both teams were counted out and Briscoe made them restart the match and make it a Fight Without Honor match, weird. Regardless this was everything you expected. Tributes to Jay, thumbtacks on tables, barbed wire ladders, forks, chairs, and more. Mark gets the win while using the Jay Driver as fans throw streamers into the ring like the classic ROH days. FTR and Mark celebrate big as they amazingly tribute Jay Briscoe.
Winners: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Mark Briscoe
ROH World Heavyweight Championship Proving Grounds Match: Eddie Kingston vs Anthony Henry: Well, at least we got our champion on the biggest show of the year. This match was quick, Anthony had a good showing, but Kingston dominated and got the win. After the match, Garcia came out to confront Kingston ahead of their match in the Continental Classic on Collision.
Winner: “And Still” Eddie Kingston
ROH Women’s Championship: Athena vs Bilie Starkz: A women’s wrestling chant mere seconds after the bell began that’s history folks. I was shocked to see Starkz busted open, but that added with the mask Athena had to wear due to her broken nose added more to this match. I don’t think I have enough words to describe this match. This was the longest women’s match in ROH history, totaling 28 and a half minutes. Athena proved in this match why she is Women’s Wrestler of the Year. She was dominant in the right places while also having Starkz have her shine. The spot with Lexy reluctantly giving the title to Athena so she could hit Starkz with it was also gold. This was my MOTY and no one can convince me otherwise. After the match was over Athena went to give the Code of Honor to Starkz as she walked away. Athena pulled her back into the ring as she screamed what else do you want from me? She said I want you to be my minion again and the two embraced for a hug. Buckle up folks we are in for the long haul here.
Winner: “And Still” Athena
Overall: Now, usually, I would complain about a show being long from zero hour to the end of the main event this show was around five to five and a half hours long. However, this reminded me a lot about the old ROH because that is how long their shows would be. All of the matches were good on the show and the only unfortunate thing was that we did not have two of our titles being defended on the show. Seeing two ROH pay-per-views in a row be main evented by women was something special to see and I hope we continue that momentum in the women’s division. Although ROH has had some hiccups over the last couple of months, this was a must-see show and I hope ROH can keep this momentum heading into 2024.
