Final Battle - End of an Era Thread

[Montana]

Fightful Select has released more backstage news and notes from last night’s Ring of Honor Final Battle pay per view. Highlights are below.


-A good portion of the roster arrived on Friday evening ahead of the show on Saturday. Their call time on Saturday was 2:30 pm.

-Two of the bigger surprises at last night’s show were the appearances of Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) and FTR. Reports are that both were heavily hidden and only a few knew about their participation.

-Meanwhile Deonna Purrazzo and Westin Blake were not hidden and were seen around the venue all day interacting with talent.


-While there are rumors of ROH returning in April much of the roster treated the show like a goodbye. Many were seen saying goodbye to ROH legend Cary Silkin, as well as taking photos with each other.

-The world title main event was cut for time due to the show running long. Originally Lethal and Gresham were scheduled to go about 24-25 minutes, but they only ended up going about 15-16 minutes. ROH had a hard out at 10:59.


-Gino Medina was also backstage for the show.

-Sledge is said to be doing okay after his dive to the outside.

-ROH did film content for some ROH TV, including stuff for a Christmas episode.

[AnHonorableMention]

It is not surprising that person who has obnoxious wrestling views has also obnoxious political views.

Yeah man that shanahan is an odd fella

[Big Red Machine]

ROH Final Battle 2021: End of an Era (12/11/2021)- Baltimore, MD


HOUR ONE:

Ian Riccaboni old us all that “this is a party. This is a celebration” due to the company’s “uncertain future.”

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Shane Taylor Promotions (O’Shay Edwards, Moses, & Kaun)(c) (w/Ron Hunt) vs. the Righteous (w/Vita VonStarr)- 6.5/10
I don’t like these titles being defended under Freebird Rules. Yes, there is history with Bullet Club doing it, but I hated it then and I hate it now. I’m not sure if I hate it more now than then, though, as then it was just being done seemingly spur of the moment just the sake of heel Bullet Club putting titles on the line to make the fans happy, and with trios that had never teamed together, whereas here I’m certain these three have teamed together and feel more like a unit to me than the random Bullet Club combinations they would come up with, but for this match the solution is so damn obvious that I’m annoyed that Delirious didn’t take the ten seconds it should have taken to come up with it:
A big part of the Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor feud being blown off later tonight was that Kenny King cost Shane Taylor the ROH World Title against Rush… so why not have him cost STP the titles on TV leading up to this show, then have Taylor give what would be his spot in the rematch to Edwards so that he can go after King, so we’d be getting this same match, but with STP as the challengers.
This was a fine action opener. The heels won clean in a move I interpret (based on Shane Taylor’s interview with Jason Powell) as meaning that STP were unwilling to commit to whatever future dates ROH might have. We got a big show of following the Code of Honor after the match from the Righteous, which was nice, but would have worked a little better for me if Vita hadn’t tried to interfere during the match.

JONATHAN GRESHAM VIDEO PACKAGE- fine

QUINN MCKAY INTERVIEWS JAY LETHAL- good, but…
Lethal’s promo was good. Apparently they had Bandido vacate the title and it will be on the line in the Gresham vs. Lethal match. The audio wasn’t synced up here, but at least it meant that we missed whatever stupid comment they had Quinn make at the end.

Maria Kanellis has joined the commentary team… and brought the original ROH World Title belt! That’s a good solution to not having a belt in Bandido’s absence.

QUINN MCKAY’S INTERVIEW WITH ROCKY ROMERO IS INTERRUPTED BY VLNCE UNLTD- meh
Rocky announced that he was going to be on commentary tonight representing New Japan. Brody King told him that he has done too much for ROH to just be on commentary tonight, “at the last show.” He agrees to… team with them, I guess? Homicide should have been the one doing the initial talking here, not Brody, especially if you’re going for the Rottweilers tie-in (which they explicitly mentioned).

CHELSEA GREEN & THE HEX (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) vs. MIRANDA ALIZE & THE ALLURE- 5.5/10
They did stuff. The heels won clean. Whatever pump-handle move Mandy was going for on the finish, it looked like she didn’t quite get Marti over the whole way. Marti landed safely, but it looked like she was supposed to land on one side of her upper back and landed on the other instead, if that makes any sense. Everyone hugged after the match, which feels like breaking character for The Allure.

BRISCOES VIDEO PACKAGE- They seem insistent that this is just “the end of a chapter” for ROH (nice shout-out to Gabe’s “chapter points” guide).

EC III’S INTERVIEW IS INTERRUPTED BY TRACY WILLIAMS, ELI ISOM, & TAYLOR RUST- meh
They are recruiting EC III to join them tonight. I appreciate that it sets up a moment of closure for Ethan’s character, but this whole last-minute recruitment thing feels hollow, and this is such a pathetically watered-down team to be representing “honor” that Ethan joining with them doesn’t feel important at all.

WORLD FAMOUS CB, THE BOUNCERS, P.J. BLACK, & FLIP GORDON vs. LSG, DEMONIC FLAMITA, WILL FERRARA, SLEDGE, & MAX THE IMPALER (w/Amy Rose)- 5/10
Danhausen was on commentary for this match. The only place Danhausen should have at what is supposed to be “a celebration” of Ring of Honor is in a dunk tank. Preferably one where the tank is full of starving crocodiles, or perhaps has acid in place of water. Or maybe a Sarlacc pit. Anyone who cheered for him when he came out (and there were many) can go in the acid/crocodile-filled dunk tank, too.
This match made me f*cking MAD. If you do a show that you are billing as a “celebration” of ROH and that everyone knows could easily be the final show, and you book a mystery ten-man tag, I don’t think you can blame fans for expecting surprises and a celebration of the promotion’s past. I understand that Low Ki was booked elsewhere and I understand that a lot of the people who would mean so much are under contract elsewhere or unavailable due to travel restrictions, but how about Austin Aries? How about Davey Richards? Or Alex Shelley? Hell, f*cking CHRIS HERO is supposedly working for you as a producer! How was he not booked? You’ve teased bringing John Walters in a few times over the past two years, so where was he tonight? You dusted Dan Maff off for a run last year, so where is he? Or how about someone as simple as Bobby f*cking Dempsey?
But no. Instead we got this. A collection of people who aside from Max The Impaler and Flamita, are the exact kind of people whose presence contributed to this company’s demise, because they were either never good enough in the first place (Sledge, LSG, Ferrara, Milonas, Amy Rose), outstayed their limited shelf-life (BCB, Cheeseburger), or were just floundering about for so long that the company clearly had nothing useful for them and should have cut bait long ago but didn’t (Black, Flip).
The presence of this match offended me. I don’t know how long Lethal and Gresham or Briscoes vs. OGK are going to go, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be worse if you took the fifteen minutes or so that went into this match and its entrances and gave it to those matches.
They did stuff. We got the big series of dives and similar where everyone is clearly trying to move into the way to catch people instead of doing the logical thing and trying to avoid the move. The worst of it was Max suplexing Cheeseburger out of the ring onto the pile, but most of them looked bad. They almost made up for all of that on the finish (an amazingly fluid DOOMSDAY CANADIAN DESTROYER by P.J. on LSG), but even with that, this match just felt like a time-filler and excuse to get people on the card. There was much hugging after the match.

MAIN SHOW OPENING VIDEO PACKAGE- It didn’t have sound for a good chunk of it. What is happening tonight is a mercy killing.

REY HORUS vs. DRAGON LEE- 8/10
Awesome. Now THAT is appropriate for a celebration of Ring of Honor. So was the post-match show of respect.

EDDIE EDWARDS VIDEO- Touching, especially as it’s coming from a guy who had the sort of connection with the fans that Eddie did.

ROH WORLD TV TITLE MATCH: Dalton Castle(c) (w/the Chicks) vs. Silas Young vs. Rhett Titus vs. Joe Hendry- 6.75/10
Dak Draper was on commentary for this match. There was mostly good action here, but that terrible-looking ref-bump hurt the match for me, as did the whole idea of Hendry, who hasn’t been anything other than a babyface in ROH, using the title belt. That whole sequence felt like it happened just to create a spot for Dak Draper to get involved.
Rhett pinned Silas Young after a standing dropkick to win the belt. You can talk up Rhett’s dropkick all you like, but at the end of the day, it still looks and feels like every other dropkick. This isn’t AJ Styles or Roderick Strong freaking drilling people with a dropkick, and it’s not a running dropkick in the corner like we’ve seen from Austin Aries or Rush. It’s just a dropkick. Rhett finally getting to win a singles title would be a nice way to cap off the TV Title if this really is the final show.

ADAM PAGE VIDEO- very nice
Ian Riccaboni pitched to this as an Impact wrestler. Oops.

BRIAN JOHNSON PROMO- good

ROH PURE TITLE MATCH: Josh Woods(c) vs. Brian Johnson- 7/10
Brian Zane was on commentary for this match. He was not good.
The story here was Johnson trying to cheat, but Woods overcame all of his dirty tricks and got the win.

JIMMY JACOBS VIDEO- Nice (although I would have preferred that he stayed away from using phrases like “creative freedom.” I just wish they could have technologically connived some way to get a Lacey cameo into this. Why can’t we have holograms, dammit?

FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King- 8.75/10
The video package before this match was outstanding!
Ian outright said that the wrestlers tonight are fighting for the few available spots in other companies (and he name-dropped not just AEW, and Impact, but WWE and MLW as well).
Kenny came out as dressed as his “old” self, who he described in the video package as “gutter.” He looked like someone you’d see getting into fights on the street rather than the smoothly-dressed arrogant athlete we’ve come to know over the past thirteen years. The only time we’ve ever seen him look even close this before in ROH was the ANX vs. Briscoes feud, which was easily the most violent feud he has ever had.
This was one hell of a weapons match. They hit hard, they used the weapons, they did the big spots, did the nearfalls, but they also made sure to bring the emotion and to make everything mean something. I could have done without the ringside attendants so clearly reaching in to stabilize ladders (that is essentially getting involved in the match), especially when only one person is climbing the ladder), but other than that, this was tremendous.
STP came out to check on Taylor after the match while Caprice Coleman left the commentary booth to check on Kenny. Eli Isom and Cheeseburger were out there because they’re also Black, I guess. I assume that’s what they were going for, because I don’t know of any other connection either of them have to either guy, but seeing them out there but not Rhett Titus, who is not only Kenny’s longtime tag team partner and was in the Rebellion with both of them, but also has- like King and Taylor- done the “I’ve changed my ways to be a better role model for my kid” angle in the past few years, felt odd.
We not a big hug at the end here, but at least they showed some tension first. Also, props to Caprice for setting up the idea of matches like this helping you regain your respect for the other person on commentary.

CM PUNK VIDEO- very nice

ROH WOMEN’S WORLD TITLE MATCH: Rok-C(c) vs. Willow- 7/10
Quinn McKay joined the commentary team for this match. She as quite annoying.
They told a good story with Willow having Rok-C pretty much completely scouted and having counters prepared for all of her stuff, so in addition to overcoming the size and strength disadvantages, Rok-C also had to change her game-plan up in order to start getting any offense in.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
After the nice show of respect between the competitors, Deonna Purrazzo showed up, which got a “HOLY SH*T!” chant from the crowd. She said that what Rok-C had had really always been hers, so once she wins the Knockouts Title back from Mickie James, she wants a match against Rok-C with all three titles (ROH, Impact, and Deonna’s AAA Reina de Reinas Championship) on the line. Rok-C accepted without hesitation.

ADAM COLE VIDEO- very nice and touching. More thanks for ROH. I found this particularly relatable, as Cole was the first one so far to also talk about seeing ROH as a fan.

TRACY WILLIAMS, ELI ISOM, RUST TAYLOR, & EC III vs. ROCKY ROMERO & VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Tony Deppen, & Homicide) (w/Chris Dickinson)- 7.25/10
Lots of good action here. That big sequence of tribute moves but a smile on my face. I usually don’t like things that try to tell a story in a meta way, but when they work for me, they really work, and this felt like an appropriate spot to do it in. That being said, if you’re going to do that sort of thing, it’d be nice if you let the team representing ROH’s core values get the freakin’ win. Rocky Romero really couldn’t have taken the loss here?

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- who knows?
EC waited until everyone other than Isom had left (well… at least that explains why Isom took the fall), then said that there was no honor. He said that the leaders had abandoned them for job security and railed against “corporate wrestling” (he is including WWE, AEW, and ROH in this. Probably TNA, too). He called out Dak Draper and Brian Johnson and said that the two of them and Isom were going to be forgotten unless they joined him, but they had to suffer for him first. Two goons showed up (one of whom was the former Wesley Blake of Blake & Murphy), and Ethan told them to “release the titan,” at which point Braun Strowman showed up and they attacked the other three. They took Eli Isom and carried his limp body to the back.
I sure hope this is going to be relevant in some promotion, because it felt like the usual Delirious gobbledygook, and if this isn’t going to be relevant to some promotion’s storyline and was done in exchange for letting talent send in videos or something like that (this feels like a TNA thing), then it had no business being on this show.

YOUNG BUCKS VIDEO- meh. This was short, and they didn’t really have much to say.

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)(c) (w/Maria Kanellis) vs. the Briscoes- 8.5/10
Cary Silkin was on commentary for this match. While thanking people, he did thank Gabe Sapolsky and Adam Pearce. I couldn’t help but notice that it was Ian who brought up and thanked Hunter Johnston. Only after Hunter Johnston was brought up did Cary say “if we’re going to go down that road…” before mentioning Jim Cornette and Gary Juster. Am I reading into things? Maybe. But it makes me a little happier.
I liked OGK going a little heelish, as it fit into Bennett’s story about how much the tag title win meant to him and how much it would hurt to lose them so soon. This was a match where did a bunch of big, crazy crap and kicked out of everything. There was a point in time when that was many people’s impression of what a “Ring of Honor match” was. I’ve had less of a problem with those matches than most, but I have always maintained that they work even better when you only do one on a card. For this card, that this match (I consider the Fight Without Honor to not count for this purpose because it was a gimmick match), and it worked for me. They did crazy stuff and escalated everything well throughout and put their bodies on the line because losing this match was not an option for either team. In the end, the Briscoes won, as they should have. If this is it for ROH, they out to let those guys keep those belts.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
We got a nice show of respect after the match. Jay grabbed the mic and said that this might be the end of an era, but it wasn’t the end of the Briscoes. “Any damn tag team that wants a fight: we right here!”
Then the lights went out, and when they came back on, FTR were in the ring. They might well be the single team in human history that I am most disappointed never got to wrestle in ROH. It’s either them or American Alpha. There was a big wild pull-apart. Here is my money, Mr. Khan.

BRYAN DANIELSON VIDEO- very good
(Although he didn’t actually get his retina detached at Final Battle. It was Manhattan Mayhem II.

SINGLES MATCH FOR THE VACANT “ORIGINAL” ROH WORLD TITLE: Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal- 8/10
Gresham worked the arm and won an excellent technical match by submission. Everyone coming to ringside in the middle of the match felt very forced to me, and while this was awesome, it was a notch below where it needed to be to feel like a worthy end for the ROH World Title in ROH. It would have been nice if they had gotten more time, but considering what this show was, I really shouldn’t have expected Delirious to have learned anything. Remember what I said above about the time for the ten-person tag being better used for other matches? Well, this match and the women’s title match would have been the ones (that one didn’t even get ten minutes, this went fifteen and a half).

“WHEN ONE CHAPTER ENDS, ANOTHER BEGINS”- They said they’d be back in April, but couldn’t even give a date.


It has been a long journey, and I have put a lot of money, thought, and emotion into ROH. If this is the end, then I can certainly say that whatever the last four or five years have been, the good in ROH overall has certainly outweighed the bad, both for me personally and for the wrestling business as a whole.
Maybe this will be the end, and maybe it won’t be. If it was, it can at least be said that they went out on a show that was at a level of in-ring quality that lived up to the reputation the promotion had earned in its glory years.

[McXal]

Thanks BRM. I’ve always been a keen follower of your reviews! Your savage, detailed dissections of some of Kevin Kelly’s absurd commentary remains some of my favourite online coverage of ROH ever!

I still think this April 22 date is little more than a smokescreen to drive up the price of the tape library - but would love to be proven wrong and to be back reading more of your ROH reviews then!

[NewROHFan2020]

Fightful Select has released more backstage news and notes from last night’s Ring of Honor Final Battle pay per view. Highlights are below.

-While there are rumors of ROH returning in April much of the roster treated the show like a goodbye. Many were seen saying goodbye to ROH legend Cary Silkin, as well as taking photos with each other.

Bischoff said in his podcast today, that a company usually doesn’t decide to shut down, take away resources from that company, and then decide months later to reallocate resources to that same company.

[Wavelet Transform]

Fightful Select has released more backstage news and notes from last night’s Ring of Honor Final Battle pay per view. Highlights are below.

-While there are rumors of ROH returning in April much of the roster treated the show like a goodbye. Many were seen saying goodbye to ROH legend Cary Silkin, as well as taking photos with each other.

Bischoff said in his podcast today, that a company usually doesn’t decide to shut down, take away resources from that company, and then decide months later to reallocate resources to that same company.

Who said anything about reallocation? Part of the hiatus may be figuring out how to run the company on 1 / 2, 1 / 4, etc... of the budget they had previously. This also isn't the first hiatus ROH has taken - they were off for ~2 months in 2011 when Sinclair first bought the company. Sounds like Bischoff being a sh*tstirrer for attention.

ROH may not come back, but concluding that's what will happen because the wrestlers (who definitely aren't privy to what's happening at Sinclair corporate) treated FB like a goodbye doesn't make sense. If it's goodbye to this era of ROH (as the company has repeatedly said), that I can believe. The new ROH might not have many of the faces we associate with the company, like Cary, Bobby Cruise, Todd Sinclair, etc... I'm sure that makes it seem like it's the end to the wrestlers, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the whether the company is in business or not.

[DougN]

When was this 2 month break in 2011? There was a gap between No Escape and Death Before Dishonor and then another gap to Gateway To Honor that year, but the Sinclair show had already started during both gaps so it's not really a hiatus when new stuff was coming out.

[Montana]

Just thinking out loud…

If ROH plans to do that supercard show in April, they’ll basically have from now to end of JAN to get their plan together. I assume they’ve already been working it. I imagine they are taking a holiday break from Dec 20-Jan 3rd

I assume By mid - Feb at the latest they have to start releasing info on the project. A whole new brand?? Is it still ROH, maybe with different color/logos? Even by that time, that only gives them about 6-7 weeks to promote the event. Which is kinda why I was hoping for a little more info on The Potential April return. That basically gives them JAN to put together a majority of key efforts for this “New Era”.

Just my opinion, long term … if they do restart, and get to running a normal schedule, they’ll have contracts for a select amount of talent. I like the super Indy idea, but when you are ran by a billion dollar business, and have TV deals in place, they’ll want a few talent secure with deals that have lots of options. Probably closer to what MLW has been doing.

Time will tell where all this goes, but I see this as a short term plan to generate buzz.

Also, If im ROH, the first people im bringing back are Ian, caprice and Quinn…probably that Gresham guy too. (Realistically some of their video package backstage folks as well). ROH has amazing talented wrestlers, but commentators are hard to come by. Their video packages are pretty under rated as well. Best behind WwE imo. Then from there, gotta figure out the new vision, and which wrestlers fit that vision. Also how they fit in the wrestling landscape, and what wrestling fans want more of.

[BurningHammer]

I know we are looking at this at a financial point which I imagine has heavily influenced the outcome we have seen. It also may have to do with a rescheduling of the TV product within Sinclair stations. I’m not that familiar with how scheduling is created with TV companies especially in America but it could be that ROH will have a better chance of a time slot when certain contracts finish and ROH can fill that void which ends up being better for them.

Overall I can’t imagine ROH will be handing out contracts at least until a year or two of some success. They need a long uninterrupted set of shows that draw a consistent and engaged fan base. Do that and show that the product can take of itself and Sinclair will probably start investing again.

The break overall gives everyone a clean slate, there were multiple contracts that never should have been given out from the start let alone re-upped numerous times. ROH owes no one now, so don’t start being the promotion that hands up contracts to those that somehow mean something to those in charge and not the fan base. If those with titles are a big part of the re-launch that is a good set of people to start with and make things easier.

[Wavelet Transform]

I know we are looking at this at a financial point which I imagine has heavily influenced the outcome we have seen. It also may have to do with a rescheduling of the TV product within Sinclair stations. I’m not that familiar with how scheduling is created with TV companies especially in America but it could be that ROH will have a better chance of a time slot when certain contracts finish and ROH can fill that void which ends up being better for them.

Overall I can’t imagine ROH will be handing out contracts at least until a year or two of some success. They need a long uninterrupted set of shows that draw a consistent and engaged fan base. Do that and show that the product can take of itself and Sinclair will probably start investing again.

The break overall gives everyone a clean slate, there were multiple contracts that never should have been given out from the start let alone re-upped numerous times. ROH owes no one now, so don’t start being the promotion that hands up contracts to those that somehow mean something to those in charge and not the fan base. If those with titles are a big part of the re-launch that is a good set of people to start with and make things easier.

COVID was surely a part of the decision too. It's partially a financial issue, due to the extra costs of testing and lost revenue from no/fewer fans, but there's also much uncertainty about when the pandemic will be over. Plus concerns about keeping the talent safe; sounded like Bandido was very, very sick the 2nd time he had COVID.

I have wondered if the success of other companies was a factor as well. AEW and, to a lesser extent, GCW were generating a lot of buzz around the time the hiatus was announced. AEW esp. was so hot, with the big debuts, Dragon/Kenny, Hangman's return, etc.... AEW and GCW compete for a lot of the same fans ROH does. Perhaps the hiatus is partially about redefining the product in a way that makes it distinct from those brands.

[Wavelet Transform]

Also, If im ROH, the first people im bringing back are Ian, caprice and Quinn…probably that Gresham guy too. (Realistically some of their video package backstage folks as well). ROH has amazing talented wrestlers, but commentators are hard to come by. Their video packages are pretty under rated as well. Best behind WwE imo. Then from there, gotta figure out the new vision, and which wrestlers fit that vision. Also how they fit in the wrestling landscape, and what wrestling fans want more of.

Agree with this - they've got something great with the current commentary setup. Production, video packages, and camera work are all top-notch too. Hope those involved get to carry on w/ ROH.

[Big Red Machine]

When was this 2 month break in 2011? There was a gap between No Escape and Death Before Dishonor and then another gap to Gateway To Honor that year, but the Sinclair show had already started during both gaps so it's not really a hiatus when new stuff was coming out.

There was also a weekend of TV tapings in each of these gaps. The first Sinclair tapings were in August, and there was also a set in October, so this really wasn't a gap. It was pretty much the same "one weekend a month" schedule they had been running for most of 2010 and 2011.

[Big Red Machine]

Thanks BRM. I’ve always been a keen follower of your reviews! Your savage, detailed dissections of some of Kevin Kelly’s absurd commentary remains some of my favourite online coverage of ROH ever!

I still think this April 22 date is little more than a smokescreen to drive up the price of the tape library - but would love to be proven wrong and to be back reading more of your ROH reviews then!

Thanks! It means a lot. (And especially to hear that I'm not the only one who seems to recognize how absurd the things he says are). I'm constantly amazed by people's ability to let good matches blind them to a promotion's flaws. I don't know why people have such a hard time looking at the entire whole of a thing.

[Wavelet Transform]

When was this 2 month break in 2011? There was a gap between No Escape and Death Before Dishonor and then another gap to Gateway To Honor that year, but the Sinclair show had already started during both gaps so it's not really a hiatus when new stuff was coming out.

There was also a weekend of TV tapings in each of these gaps. The first Sinclair tapings were in August, and there was also a set in October, so this really wasn't a gap. It was pretty much the same "one weekend a month" schedule they had been running for most of 2010 and 2011.

I had forgotten about the tapings, my bad.

[DougN]

No, you're good. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting something because I didn't remember "a hiatus" then and it would have been huge news.