Welcome to another edition of The ROHbot Report – the only article you need for all the Ring of Honor news you have to know. Ring of Honor came back to Baltimore for it’s annual big event “Final Battle. Were any new champions crowned? Were any new rivalries started? Did Danhausen end up unemployed? Lets find out!
Final Battle Results
December 18th, 2020
Baltimore, MD
– Winner Gets an Immediate Shot at the ROH World Television Championship: Tony Deppen defeated LSG, Josh Woods and Dak Draper
– Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus defeated Wheeler Yuta & Fred Yehi
– ROH World Tag Team Championship: Jonathan Gresham & Jay Lethal defeated PCO & Mark Briscoe to retain
– Rey Horus defeated Dalton Castle
– The OGK (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) defeated The Righteous (Bateman & Vincent)
– Danhausen defeated Brian Johnson via disqualification
– ROH World Television Championship: Dragon Lee defeated Tony Deppen to retain
– Shane Taylor defeated Jay Briscoe
– ROH Pure Championship: Jonathan Gresham defeated Flip Gordon via referee stoppage to retain
– RUSH defeated Brody King to retain
ROH’s most important show of the year kicked off with a free hour that streamed on various formats; starting with the TV title top contender bout. As per the norm with these ROH Four Corner Survival bouts, the action was similar to a tag team encounter with two men in and the other pair on the apron awaiting tags both willingly & unexpectedly. The early going was all about the athleticism of LSG and the returning Tony Deppen who, as the announcers Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman noted, hadn’t left his home since the birth of his child.
Dak Draper made his presence known by physically dominating anyone in his path when he became the legal man including heavy favorite Josh Woods; though “The Goods” was able to slip in & execute several suplexes during the bout. The closing moments were hectic with Woods kicking Draper to the floor while avoiding a submission attempt. Before Woods could moved, LSG splashed him with “The Goods” too exiting the ring. A distressed LSG lost focus as he watched Woods collapse at ringside, getting rolled up by Deppen for a somewhat shocking pin fall as Tony earned his right to face Dragon Lee on the PPV for the Television Championship. A perfectly fine opener not only for the entire event, but also for the kick-off portion of the show to entice potential buyers.
Following a few video packages, as pair of new bouts were set for the event including Jay Briscoe versus Shane Taylor and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team titleholder Rey Horus facing Dalton Castle. The main event for the first hour was none other than the first-ever Pure Rules tag team match with The Foundation’s Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams taking on the returning Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta. The early going saw Titus shockingly use up rope breaks haphazardly while Yehi & Yuta pushed the pace with high impact attacks & submission attempts. It wasn’t until “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams entered did things switch in The Foundation’s favor.
The momentum swung back & forth constantly with Titus having to stop himself from breaking up a koji clutch, but couldn’t because it would cause a rope break that his team didn’t have; causing a disqualification in the process. The referee was on point throughout, even forcing Yehi & Yuta to redo a tag because the latter wasn’t holding the tag rope. Not learning from Titus, Yehi stopped a pin on his partner after Yuta suffered a piledriver courtesy of Williams; causing Yuta & Yehi to lose their last rope break. Moments later it was Yuta stuck in Williams’ crossface. Using the ropes for leverage (completely legal as no team had rope breaks left), Williams cranked on the hold for the tap out; ending a first-of-its-kind encounter. Definitely a worthy endeavor by ROH to present a Pure Rules match in a different format; choosing the perfect quartet to get over the idea while producing another fine match.
“Final Battle” the pay-per-view portion was here and it began with the ROH World Tag Team Championship bout as Mark Briscoe & PCO took on titleholders Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham. As expected, the challengers made this wrestling match a wild brawl with PCO taking some horrendous bumps including the typical miss when aiming for his opponent draped across the ring’s edge. But the man-monster wouldn’t be stopped as PCO even pulled off an accidental low blow to stop Gresham’s momentum. When the action broke down and everyone entered the ring for a series of double teams & attempted pinning combinations, it was “The Octopus” that came out on top after avoiding a PCO spear that saw the challenger collide with his own partner. Gresham grabbed the stunned PCO, rolling him up to attain that precious three count. The clash of styles definitely made this match uniquely fun to watch while it lasted, but somewhat hurt the narrative that’s been presented by ROH as of late in regards to the rules being followed by all the wrestlers (regular bouts or not).
A match of speed versus technique encompassed Rey Horus versus Dalton Castle that followed with the prior starting off hot & heavy with counters and eventually diving attacks on the floor that rocked the former ROH World champion. As expected, Castle took control temporarily with his awareness & suplex variations; resulting in the masked man fighting for an advantage for the match’s second half until he caught Castle out of nowhere with the Tornado Driver to give “The Peacock” another pin fall loss in 2020. A solid encounter that would’ve been perfect for an episode of ROH TV.
The highly promoted grudge tag team bout between OGK and The Righteous was next with the rules being a lot more lax than any other on the card thus far. Though there were tags, moments of double teams & partners breaking up pins & submission attempts were numerous with brawling accenting the action between those moments. Vincent had his working boots on while bringing destruction to both Taven & Bennett whenever he had the chance after his second Vita Von Starr distracted Bennett. The OGK eventually made a comeback after Bennett took the brunt of The Righteous’ offense, leading to a big exchange of moves that culminated in Bateman taking the pin after feeling the Proton Pack. But The Righteous wasn’t done, attacking after the bell thanks to Vita so they could “Misery” Bennett’s ankles after they choked out Taven while he was tied to the ring ropes. Another good bout that was missing the hatred expected of the people involved during the match’s middle portion – started off hot, cooled down into what felt like just another wrestling match, before getting hot again.
It was do or die for Danhausen as he was fighting for a ROH contract against “The Mecca” Brian Johnson. Unfortunately for Danhausen, Johnson was determined to spoil his first PPV and send him packing; beating up everyone’s (well, everyone other than ROH Management) favorite wrestler. Danhausen eventually turned the tides with some actual wrestling moves including a beautiful German suplex and the Go To Sleep (Goodnight-hausen) with the latter not resulting in a pin thanks to his opponent’s hand being under the bottom rope. The closing moments witnessed the unwanted return of the referee bump so Jonson could gain some uncounted falls before he was disqualified after Danhausen convinced the recovering ref that Johnson struck him with the microphone – a microphone Johnson failed to use against Danhausen earlier in the match; thus further cementing him as the culprit. Once again, a fine match for what it was, but would’ve been so much better on an episode of ROH TV instead of pay-per-view. At least the era of hausen is here… hausen.
The first title bout of the evening had arrived with Tony Deppen getting his shot at Dragon Lee & the ROH World Television Championship. Grappling was the name of the game early on, but, as expected with a Dragon Lee match, it soon moved to the air & the outside including a tope that almost sent the challenger over the barricades. Deppen soon recovered and went move for move with the masked man; almost pinning him off several attacks including a springboard dropkick. But for everything Deppen had, Lee only had to land one attack to regain the momentum such as stopping a superplex attempt with his corner double stomp. The damage done by winning the contendership had put Deppen at a severe disadvantage no matter how much he fought; eventually succumbing to that Incineration knee strike to give Lee a successful defense via pin fall – capping off one-year as ROH World Television champion. A very good match with Deppen fighting from behind the entire, but to no avail in the end – the best match of the night thus far.
The newly-signed Jay Briscoe versus Shane Taylor match was very simple in presentation: two guys beating the snot out of each other. Both took pride in their fisticuffs and let them fly as Taylor showed why he’s one of ROH’s heaviest hitters and Briscoe showed why he’s still one of the toughest men to lace up a pair of boots in ROH history. Briscoe also displayed incredible strength by executing a Death Valley driver to gain a near fall. Taylor rallied back after surviving a sleeper hold; eventually pulling off a package piledriver-Welcome to the Land combination to pin Jay Briscoe – a rare feat if there ever was one in singles competition since 2013. Taylor picked up one of his biggest ROH non-title victories to date in another impressive showing that, arguably, outdid anything on the show up to this point.
Jonathan Gresham proved what it takes to be a true champion as he came to the ring for the second time in the evening for his title defense against Flip Gordon. In the first five minutes, the champion showcased how great he is as forcing opponents to give up rope breaks. With Gresham’s focus on Gordon’s arm, the challenger had to use the rope to avoid sure submissions while looking to grapple his way to an advantage. That moment happened for Gordon when he gained some distance and began unleashing strikes that caught the champ behind his ear. As the match progressed so did the damage aimed at Gresham’s legs that caused him to stumble, hesitate & even collapse under the pressure that allowed Gordon to present his submission acumen including forcing a rope break via the STF.
Fearful his reign was about to end really sent Gresham into desperation mode while Gordon actually stayed calm & used the rules to his advantage by landing an illegal punch to earn a warning as a way to stop the champ’s momentum. The match surpassed the twenty minute mark when Gresham pulled Gordon off the top with a hammerlock belly to back superplex that he used to set up sliding elbow’s to the challenger’s unprotected face as Flip couldn’t move his arms to block the incoming strikes. The referee had no choice by to stop the match as Gordon was knocked out after two of those sliding elbow strikes. A fantastic, though long-winded example of how great Pure Rules matches can be. This was also another clash of styles, but Gordon worked incredibly well adapting to the match’s rules alongside a grappling master. Another really good PPV encounter to make it three for three in the last trio of matches.
It was time for the main event with RUSH entering with a taped-up left shoulder. Though it seemed RUSH was working through a minor injury, the ROH World champion was game with him and his challenger fighting on the floor for the match’s early going. The momentum swing back & forth during this ringside brawl as the referee attempted to bring the action inside. After several minutes of fighting with some illegal activities including RUSH using one of the camera cables to choke his challenger and RUSH being slammed on some chairs, the fighters reentered the ring and gave way to an exchange of big maneuvers & strikes including snap German suplexes, face washes, superplexes, and King’s Boss Man Slam.
The closing moments were both exhilarating & frustrating. Stopping the Bull’s Horns, King pulled off that short-arm lariat that helped him pin Shane Taylor to earn this title shot. Before King could top the attack by executing his Gonso Bomb, Dragon Lee arrived to distract the ref as La Bestia del Ring (RUSH & Lee’s father) cracked the challenger with a chair shot. RUSH took advantage of this help by hitting the Bull’s Horns on a stunned Brody for the pin fall. After the match, The Foundation came out to disapprovingly star at La Faccion Ingobernables. What was a fun brawl as expected from the participants involved definitely lived up to the hype, but the ending hurt what was a very enjoyable main event especially considering how well ROH has been avoiding the pro wrestling nonsense since it’s return to television. The good that came out of this match included King not losing clean; thus setting up a rematch that, hopefully, will have a clean finish. RUSH & Dragon Lee are apparently sticking around for the foreseeable future; not reducing the roster as many expected coming out of this event. And we potentially have The Foundation setting their sights on both a rival faction and the titles they currently hold.
While not the blow-away event many were hoping for, “Final Battle” was a pretty good escalation type of event where it got better & better as the show progressed with very little in terms of valleys (Danhausen-Johnson and the main event’s ending). The Tag Team, TV title & Pure title matches, as well as Taylor-Briscoe are highly recommended viewing with the main event almost reaching that status if not for the ending.
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