The twenty-first ROH Final Battle was held at the College Park Center in Arlington, TX. Six championships on the line, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on the call, and Tony Khan was in charge.
Rest in peace, Jay Briscoe.
0. Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada
Olympian vs. Luchador is a good wrestling mash-up and in under 7 minutes they got all their shit in but did it in a way that allowed that shit to have staying power. Good stuff. ***1/2
0. “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard & “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger & Eli Isom)
Exemplifying the yin and yang of an AEW contract, Menard and Parker came off like big superstar wrestlers though seeing them work a 5-minute tag match probably shouldn’t feel like a nostalgic treat. Cheese took heat and Eli Isom hit a nice-looking spear in the corner. **1/2
0. Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora
Willow’s Northern lights suplex and Pounce both looked great, though it also seemed like she got hurt early on – which could also just be an excuse I made up because the match didn’t connect. **1/2
0. Top Flight vs. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett
The Kingdom put in a day’s work for Dante & Darius Martin: Darius took heat and got called a little bitch, then fought back with a Spanish Fly and did a rapid tope to the floor that was somehow outdone by Matt Taven’s suicide plancha (the hangtime!!) Dante tripped on a springboard something, though kept it moving right towards Top Flight’s finish, a Doomsday GO LOOK AT IT. ***1/2
1. AR Fox & Blake Christian vs. Rush & Dralistico w/ Jose the Assistant and Preston Vance
Enough flashiness to deliver a proper PPV opener in 2022, though only Dralistico (making his ROH debut) put on much of a show between the spots. Botched 3-count sucked too. ***1/4
2. ROH Women’s World Title: Mercedes Martinez [c] vs. Athena
On the way to this match Athena turned heel, or I think she did: beating people up all the time is kind of cool if you’re a wrestler, and now she was challenging for the title near her hometown. Some love for Martinez could’ve helped this reach a higher level, but they powered through by slugging it out before wow’ing the crowd with a spider German suplex, brainbuster, backdrop on the apron, neckbreaker off the apron… and others I didn’t write down. ***1/2
3. Swerve in Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & JD Griffey)
Before Lee went to WWE (then AEW), he and Shane Taylor teamed in ROH. A few years later they were on opposite teams for this ROH reboot, albeit with not enough notice to make it feel meaningful. Lee and Swerve were headed for a break-up too but no matter all the dissension there was some good wrestling here, with JD Griffey standing out in particular by just showing up and figuring out who he was anyways. Taylor’s apron legdrop could be a thing tootoo. ***1/2
4. ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Title: Dalton Castle & The Boys [c] vs. Brian Cage & The Gates of Agony w/ Prince Nana
The Embassy entered in color-coordinated gear, so the was the limit – or at least the 6-Man Tag Team Titles were. Castle fired up the crowd with charisma and suplexes while Cage continued to perfect the role of a guy who is just still in AEW. ***
5. ROH Pure Title: Daniel Garcia [c] vs. Wheeler Yuta
They were supposed to be the next ones up, the next world-traveled pro wrestlers who “got it.” Their AEW work was good, only held back by inconsistent TV time and the occasional Yuta promo. Their last ROH match was good too, though the kind of good where you assume they might be saving the better stuff for next time. Well, here was next time. It wasn’t better. The Pure rules (points! penalties!) were logical but their stubborn commitment to them just resulted in a simmering quiet. Somewhere in here Caprice said “I hate to say it, but that’s wrestling” — well. Yeah. ***1/4
6. Double Dog Collar Match – ROH Tag Team Title: FTR [c] vs. The Briscoe Brothers
The Briscoes are brothers in the family sense, while FTR are brothers in the wrestling sense – brother. They earned reputations as great tag teams working for two different companies but wrestling is wrestling, brother, and when their paths collided in 2022 for three matches on ROH PPVs they delivered the three best tag matches all year.
The 2/3 Falls Match stayed captivating for 45-minutes using good old-fashioned tag team wrestling, while this Dog Collar Match stayed captivating because each guy was attached at the neck by a chain and dog collar. The fight that followed was bloody and chaotic, but from a heat segment to the Doomsday Device to the escalating lunacy of the finish, the brothers stabilized the chaos with good old-fashioned tag team wrestling. Just wish Dax didn’t cause so much dead air trying to wrap a chain around his sweaty bald head to hit a diving headbutt, because like… ****3/4
7. ROH World TV Title: Samoa Joe [c] vs. Juice Robinson
Sometimes this felt like a Joe ROH World Title defense from 03/04, albeit 20 years later with a less remarkable opponent. Joe still has the aura if not the speed, and I liked Juice in New Japan but BJ Whitmer and Chad Collyer brought more ideas to the Joe match than he did. ***1/4
8. ROH World Title: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Chris Jericho (The Ocho!) just keeps doing it. Not winning titles or staying relevant or even wrestling into his early 50s, but just doing whatever it is he has to do to keep up with the kids and make sure his thing delivers. Nobody wanted to see him work the mat, so he didn’t — he just had a beat every minute that kept all 17 entertaining: refused a handshake, attacked a commentator, reversed a Frankensteiner reversal. Eventually he tapped out mid-Giant Swing, which I think was a first too. One can gripe that it’s just shortcuts and even in the loss he put himself over, but also isn’t that all pro wrestling is? Think about it. ****
Happy Thoughts: AEW’s Ring of Honor could use an established roster and more interesting conflicts, but at least it’s got good wrestling matches. Really good ones. Especially that Briscoes vs. FTR match. That was crazy. 4.0 / 5.0
