ROH Final Battle Review - December 15, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Taya Valkyrie def. Jazmin Allure

Allure is a familiar face for anyone who routinely watched the AEW Dark shows from 2020 through 2022. She's not bad in the ring and works well in the enhancement role. As for Valkyrie, Ring of Honor is probably the perfect place for her right now as she hasn't gotten television time in AEW in what feels like ages, especially now that she's reunited with her husband Johnny TV (can we go back to calling him John Hennigan please?!). This was a simple squash for Valkyrie, but it could have been slightly shorter.

Zero Hour: The Von Erichs def. The Outrunners

What's funny is that The Von Erichs were already announced for tonight's AEW Rampage, but this aired first. With this event also emanating from Texas, it was cool that they were able to make another appearance. I followed their work in MLW and I'm surprised they haven't signed anywhere yet, but between this and the stuff they've done in AEW this week, they may have found their new home. This was standard showcase for them.

Zero Hour: "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith def. Jack Cartwheel to Qualify for the ROH World Television Championship Survival of the Fittest Match

Keith has had a few matches for AEW this year and has been impressive every time. The Bounty Hunter shtick is awesome. Hopefully he puts pen to paper with AEW or ROH soon and I get the feeling he will soon. I have to give credit to Cartwheel as well for having a hell of a showing here. I haven't been a fan of his "spotty" style in the past, but it worked wonderfully here and gave the pre-show a gem (with stakes!) that I wasn't expecting.

Zero Hour: Daniel Garcia def. Blake Christian

I have yet to see a shred of personality from Christian in any of the promotions I've seen him work for, but there's no doubt that the guy can go and he held his own against Garcia here in what was a quality contest. Garcia has been in a bit of a slump lately with nothing but losses in the Continental Classic, so this was a necessary win for him, even though this could have happened on Rampage because Garcia isn't a regular in ROH at the moment.

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo def. Black Taurus

My main exposure to Taurus comes from what he's done in IMPACT and he's super talented. I knew that these two would kill it as soon as this was announced and they did not disappoint. Taurus never stood a chance of taking the title, but that didn't stop them from going in there and having a hot opener. Vikingo has yet to do anything storyline-related in AEW or ROH, but as an attraction, he adds a little flare to any show he's on.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony) def. TMDK (Shane Haste, Bad Dude Tito and Kosei Fujita)

I like Mogul Embassy, but I'm so tired of seeing them in the six-man tag team division. I'd rather see Cage branch off and do his own thing while Gates of Agony chase the ROH World Tag Team Championship (which I guess they can't do until MJF and Adam Cole drop or relinquish the damn belts). TMDK weren't legitimate threats, either. I have no idea who Fujita even is. This was a well-worked match and they picked up the pace as it progressed, but it's impossible to care about ROH having its own six-man tag team division when AEW can barely do anything interesting with theirs.

"All Ego" Ethan Page def. Tony Nese in an "I Quit" Match

While Mark Sterling and his stable of losers do nothing for me personally, Nese and Page have done a nice job of building up their storyline in the last month or two. It's clear Page is taking this ROH run seriously and I hope he can come out of it better than he was going into it. This exceeded my expectations as they put forth a commendable effort to make the stipulation worthwhile. Scorpio Sky helped out his former tag team partner Page, but I have no desire to see their reunion be anything more than a one-off.

Nyla Rose def. Vertvixen

On a show that ultimately went four hours (five hours if you include the pre-show), this match was definitely not necessary. Nothing against Rose, who is a fine addition to ROH's women's division (especially if there aren't any plans for her in AEW anytime soon), but this could have easily happened on an edition of ROH TV and not wasted time on this pay-per-view. At least it didn't last longer than it needed to.

Kyle Fletcher def. AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander, "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith, Lee Moriarty, Dalton Castle and Lee Johnson in a Survival of the Fittest Match to Win the Vacant ROH World Television Championship (AAA World Cruiserweight Championship Was Not Defended)

Unless I'm mistaken, it's been a while since we last got a Survival of the Fittest match in ROH, so this was a fitting way to crown a new ROH World Television Champion. The order of eliminations was well done, though the crowd was not happy when Castle got taken out so early. This was a fun, fast-paced matchup with everyone getting some time to shine. The finishing sequence in particular was phenomenal and they had the crowd convinced that Komander might win, but Fletcher going over was the right call.

ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta def. "Filthy" Tom Lawlor in a Pure Rules Match

It was great seeing Lawlor make an appearance on this show (I actually just interviewed him earlier this month ahead of MLW's One Shot event). He may not have gotten the return match for the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship he felt he was owed, but this wasn't a bad spot to be in instead. Of course, the crowd was quiet coming off Survival of the Fittest (not to mention the Pure Rules aren't the most exciting), but it was the well-wrestled outing you'd expect from them, despite the awkward-looking finish. Yuta attacked Hook afterward as well, so Hook will be next in line for a title shot (which was already teased prior to Final Battle).

Keith Lee def. Shane Taylor

I've been looking forward to this match for a long time. It may have been better a few years ago, but both guys are still damn good. It started slow, but they ended up having an enjoyable, hard-hitting affair. That Canadian Destroyer off the top from Taylor was wild. I appreciated how Lee endorsed Taylor afterward by raising his hand. Hopefully these guys can continue building momentum, specifically Lee who has been spinning his wheels all year.

Mark Briscoe and FTR def. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) in a Fight Without Honor

​​This was billed as a "Fight to Honor Jay". Doing a Jay Briscoe tribute match one year removed from the unforgettable Dog Collar match between The Briscoes and FTR was a classy move. This wasn't how I envisioned Danielson making his grand comeback to ROH, but it was still terrific to have him involved. Props to him for doing the honors for Mark. Restarting it halfway through as a Fight Without Honor turned it into a total mess when it didn't need to be, but this was a blast on the whole.

ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston def. Anthony Henry in an ROH World Championship Proving Ground Match (NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Was Not Defended)

This was added to the card during the pre-show. I would've complained if the ROH World Champion wasn't a part of this event, but then again, this match didn't really serve a purpose. If Kingston was going to wrestle, a higher-profile opponent would have made more sense to make this worthwhile. No disrespect to Henry, but no one seriously thought he was beating Kingston. The match was serviceable.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Billie Starkz

As I've said before, Athena and Starkz deserve a ton of credit for putting together such a strong storyline this year, and I applaud Tony Khan for positioning them as the main event since it was the most anticipated match on the show. For as young as she is, it's amazing that Starkz is already so skilled. She delivered here and having the experienced Athena as her opponent obviously helped. I can't lie: Athena retaining her title yet again was deflating. If wasn't going to be Willow Nightingale at Death Before Dishonor, then Starkz on this show was the next best thing. Athena has had an outstanding reign, but she's outgrown ROH and belongs on a bigger platform like AEW.

Overall Show

This has to be the longest pay-per-view in ROH history, right? Even since Khan purchased the promotion, most (if not all) of their shows have gone three hours or less. It's hard to complain when we got as much excellent wrestling as we did, but they easily could have cut a few matches. Athena winning wasn't how I would've gone off the air, but all in all, it was a very entertaining event. ROH as a brand has been quite cold this year, but at least they consistently knock it out of the park with the pay-per-views.

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