ROH Final Battle Review - December 20, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zero Hour: Grizzled Young Veterans def. The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds)

There's been a running gag for a while now that Reynolds looks like James Drake. There was also a little bit of buildup for this on ROH TV, so it wasn't totally random. Dark Order flip so often between being babyfaces and heels that it's impossible to know or give a shit what they're supposed to be these days, but the important thing is that Grizzled Young Veterans won in what was an adequate outing.

Zero Hour: HANAKO def. Harley Cameron

I'm not familiar with HANAKO at all, but she's definitely talented based on what I saw from her here. Ring of Honor has a deep women's division as it is, but as I've said before, using women from Stardom is never a bad thing. As for Cameron, although I'm not a fan of her over-the-top character, she continues to shine in every opportunity she's given and show signs of improvement. This was a well-worked match from these two.

Zero Hour: The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) def. The Infantry

This bout had more background than anything else on the Zero Hour pre-show. They haven't been actively feuding as of late, but it was acknowledged beforehand that The Infantry have never beaten Undisputed Kingdom. That made me think there was a chance The Infantry would finally won now that the roles have been reversed. That didn't happen, but it was logical for Undisputed Kingdom to win since they're involved in Adam Cole's storyline with MJF on AEW TV at the moment. Regardless, they had another enjoyable encounter.

Zero Hour: The Gates of Agony def. LeeJ

LeeJ is a pretty silly tag team name for Lee Johnson and EJ Nduka in my opinion, but I appreciated what they tried to do by merging their names together. They 've worked well as a tandem in recent months and I'd like to see them enter the ROH World Tag Team Championship picture, but it obviously won't be anytime soon based on their loss here. That said, I'm fine with them having a feud with Gates of Agony in the meantime if that's what the post-match attack was supposed to set up. The match itself was solid.

Atlantis Jr. def. Mansoor

I have no idea why this match was made or why it had to start the show. Atlantis has barely been on ROH TV (if at all) since losing the ROH World Television Championship to Brian Cage back in October, so it would've been nice if there was a reason established for why this happened. It was an average outing up until Danhausen returned toward the end and that was when the crowd came alive. Danhausen's been gone for well over a year, and it makes sense for him to be back in ROH if there aren't any plans for him in AEW.

Katsuyori Shibata def. "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington

This would've been been perfect for the pre-show since this had zero story whatsoever and was a last-minute addition to the card. It was a well-wrestled affair as you'd expect, but it didn't do much for me personally because it was just sort of there. At least it didn't overstay its welcome. I forgot Billington was under contract to AEW because it's been so long since we've seen him, so he may as well wrestle in ROH for now.

"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal def. QT Marshall

I give these guys a ton of credit. I had minimal interest in this match when it was originally announced, but they made it feel meaningful with their sit-down interview on Thursday's ROH TV. Plus, this was way more fun than I thought it would be. Lethal bringing back his Black Machismo shtick for the first time in years (possibly since the inaugural All In event in 2018) was cool, but Marshall also played his role really well. There were plenty of shenanigans, but the crowd was into all of it. This was really good stuff.

ROH Women's World Television Champion Red Velvet def. "Legit" Leyla Hirsch

Hirsch lost whatever momentum she gained from winning that Texas Death match due to the injury that sidelined her for a few months, but I'm glad she's been able to get back on track by entering the ROH Women's World Television Championship picture. I'm all for her capturing that title eventually, but I have no issue with her staying in chase mode for a little longer following Velvet's heel turn. They had a decent match, but it was immediately overshadowed by that development at the end.

ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty def. Nigel McGuinness in an Old School Pure Rules Match

I was wondering why Moriarty vs. Taven wasn't saved for Final Battle and now we know why. McGuinness was the perfect surprise opponent for Moriarty given his history with the ROH Pure Championship and the Hammerstein Ballroom. I typically don't care for the Pure Rules matches, but the focus on the "old school" rules was well done and they made the most of the stipulation. Surely this means McGuinness will wrestle again eventually and that he isn't definitively retired, right?

ROH World Tag Team Champions The Sons of Texas def. The Righteous in a Double Texas Bull Rope Match

This has been one of the best ROH feuds in recent memory, definitely the best one over the ROH World Tag Team Championship since The Briscoes vs. FTR two years ago. The Righteous deserve the spotlight, so even though they lost, I'm happy they got this opportunity. All four guys worked hard here and had a hell of a hard-hitting affair. There wasn't an excessive amount of blood like I thought there would be, but I'm not complaining.

Komander def. Blake Christian, Mark Davis, Brian Cage, AR Fox and Willie Mack in a Survival of the Fittest Match to Win the ROH World Television Championship

This came completely out of nowhere in that I don't believe there was even a mention of Cage defending the Television title in a Survival of the Fittest match on this show until right beforehand on social media. Laziness aside, this was a blast. Everyone got some time to shine and I like how Cage wasn't in there until the end, making the outcome a little less predictable. Komander has been busting his ass for AEW for the last year and a half, so this title win felt like a reward for him. I'm not sure why Cage had to capture the championship in the first place.

ROH World Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho def. Matt Cardona

For as much as I've disliked a lot of what Jericho has done in 2024, I'll give him credit where it's due as far as his matches are concerned, at least whenever he delivers. This was not one of those instances. He relied on a lot of shenanigans and it didn't make for an entertaining encounter whatsoever. The interference was lame, the crowd was quieter than they were probably hoping for, and the finish went over like a fart in church. Bandido's botched post-match return (because of his unfortunate injury/potential concussion) made matters even worse.

ROH Women's World Champion Athena def. Billie Starkz

There is such a thing in wrestling as dragging out a story for too long. That has absolutely been the case with Athena and Starkz. I still feel Starkz should have won last year, but I almost understood why they didn't pull the trigger then. Waiting for the following year to do the big title change would've been acceptable, but Athena retained again. That accomplishes nothing. If Starkz does eventually win the title, it will not mean remotely as much. This was a worthy main event, but I believe their main event last year was better. Talk about ending the night on a flat note.

Overall Show

For the first half or so of the main card, part of me regretted not going to this show, solely for the atmosphere in the Hammerstein Ballroom. It's an awesome, old-school venue where I attended Final Battle in 2017 and 2018, so I have a few ROH memories there. The event was going really well up until the last two matches. They weren't awful, but I wasn't a fan of Jericho vs. Cardona and the outcome of the main event sucked, so then I didn't feel as bad about not being in attendance. All in all, ROH knocked it out of the park with yet another pay-per-view, but we'll see how much it helps in the long run when it comes to landing a stable television deal for the brand.

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