ROH Final Battle Review - December 18, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Tony Deppen def. LSG, Josh "The Goods" Woods and Dax Draper in an ROH World Television Championship No. 1 Contender's Four Corner Survival Match

I believe Deppen is the only one from these four who isn't under a contract to ROH, so it was a pleasant surprise that he ended up winning. This was a smart match to open the pre-show with because of how it was laid out and what was at stake. LSG, Woods and Draper have all showed signs of potential since Ring of Honor's relaunch and can always earn another opportunity at the TV title down the road. The rules for this four-way took some getting used to, but the commentators did a great job of explaining them early on.

Pre-Show: The Foundation (Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus) def. Fred Yehi and Wheeler Yuta in a Pure Rules Tag Team Match

The Pure Rules matches have exceeded my expectations recently on ROH TV and this was another fun one. I wasn't initially sold on Titus on The Foundation, but at least it makes him more interesting than he was on his own. This was a well-wrestled affair as expected with everyone getting a chance to shine. Yehi and Yuta once again impressed following their performances in the ROH Pure Championship Tournament and I'd be surprised if they weren't signed at some point.

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Foundation (Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham) def. PCO and Mark Briscoe

I was wondering how ROH would explain why Jay wasn't teaming with Mark instead of PCO with his match against EC3 being called off, but Mark told him backstage beforehand that he was too late. PCO and Mark made for an enjoyable tandem and I wouldn't be opposed to them teaming more after this despite their loss. There was no reason for Lethal and Gresham to drop the belts to a makeshift team and the match delivered as the official opener to the pay-per-view.

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Rey Horas def. Dalton Castle

MexiSquad were supposed to defend the ROH Six-Man World Tag Team Championship on this show before Bandido and Flamita had to pulled due to not passing the company's COVID-19 protocols. Castle and Horas faced off in an impromptu bout instead and it was a blast while it lasted. Horas is always fun to watch in the ring while Castle has found his footing again after suffering from injuries for a few years. Castle could go back to teaming with Joe Hendry soon, but personally, I'd prefer him as a singles competitor again.

Matt Taven and Mike Bennett def. The Righteous (Vincent and Bateman)

This was billed as a grudge match and felt like one with how they brought the intensity and kept the pace flowing from start to finish. I appreciated that it wasn't an all-out war with weapons and whatnot because they can always build to that down the road, especially since the post-match angle indicated the feud isn't over yet. This was an entertaining tag team match and Bennett and Taven didn't seem to miss a beat as a duo. I was hoping Maria Kanellis would resurface afterward to help even the odds against The Righteous, but no such luck.

Danhausen def. Brian Johnson by Disqualification to Earn a Ring of Honor Contract

Danhausen has been petitioning for an ROH contract for over a year now, and he finally got it by virtue of his victory here. He's grown on me and I like how he's so different than everyone else in the roster. He's talented in the ring to boot and thus this was a nice match with Johnson serving as the perfect foil to Danhausen's antics. I would have preferred a more straightforward win for Danhausen, but admittedly, it was a clever finish and I'm glad we'll be getting more of Danhausen in ROH going forward.

ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee def. Tony Deppen

Much like he did in the four-way on the pre-show and during the Pure title tourney, Deppen looked great here. He's another one I expect to be offered a contract eventually, but this wasn't his night to take the title nor should it have been. Lee has a ton more to do as TV Champion and this was an example of what he can do. It was a quality match with the right outcome.

Shane Taylor def. Jay Briscoe

Taylor and Briscoe were advertised as wrestling on this show before their respective matches were cut, so it made sense for them to face each other instead. Despite not having any storyline support, this was a terrific match with strong showings from both men. I feel like Briscoe is rarely beaten one-on-one, so it meant something for Taylor to beat him here. That's in addition to him and Soldiers of Savagery refusing to accept the six-man tag team titles because they didn't beat MexiSquad for them. Taylor is back on the ascent and it's awesome to see.

ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham def. Flip Gordon in a Pure Rules Matches

I could have sworn that both Gresham and Gordon were heels, so the dynamic of this match was a bit strange because fans didn't have an incentive to cheer for one guy over the other. Despite that, this was a top-notch match. Gresham is absolutely perfect in the role of Pure Champion, so him retaining the title was the right result. As I mentioned previously, the Pure Rules matches have been a breath of fresh air and have been very well executed so far. Gordon lost nothing in defeat because of the performance he had here.

ROH World Champion Rush def. Brody King

It's been cool to see King positioned as a top talent in ROH for the past few weeks, but this match suffered from not having a longer build. I realize Rush hasn't been able to travel until recently and thus that's not really the company's fault, but it's just bad timing with this being the main event of what's supposed to be their biggest show of the year. That said, they made the most of a bad situation and it was an excellent match up until the finish. I had no idea who La Bestia del Ring was, so that fell flat for me and I assume most viewers. Apparently he's the father of Rush and Lee, though I'm not sure if he's going to be in their faction full-time going forward or not. That was a lame ending, but it didn't ruin the matchup on the whole for me which, again, was above-average. I'd like to see King's chase for the championship continue because he's proven he can be a main event player in ROH.

Overall Show

I've had a lot of praise for ROH lately because of how much better the product has been since returning from their sabbatical. The return of Pure Rules matches has been fun and it feels like a reset of ROH of sorts. No titles changed hands on this show and I didn't mind that, but this was easily the least newsworthy Final Battle pay-per-view ROH has done since I started following the product in 2015. The wrestling delivered, though I would have trimmed a few matches off the card and eliminated an hour (maybe the pre-show?) because four hours in an empty arena is just too damn long. Still, I urge everyone to check out the weekly product ROH produces. It's such a simple yet strong format and I'm always left satisfied, specifically with the sit-down interviews they produce with the talent.