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Ring of Honor's "All-Star Extravaganza IV" from December 26 was the temporary end of an era in ROH. It was the end of less-than-desirable production value, as the following night's "Final Battle" show featured state-of-the-art production for an independent wrestling show.

In the ring, "Extravaganza" was highlighted by an excellent Jerry Lynn vs. Bryan Danielson match, but Kensuke Sasaki was the MVP of the show for simply being a great wrestler with a superstar presence. He was like a man amongst boys and really stood out.

I recommend the DVD as part of the Final Battle weekend of shows because the year's feuds and storylines culminate each other. For long-time ROH fans, it's a way to see how the feuds conclude. For newer fans or wrestling fans who aren't too sure about the ROH product, but want to check out some content before the HDNet TV debut, it's worth seeing the main players in action and understand what the key feuds are. If you can only pick one of the two Final Battle weekend shows, go with the next night's show in New York, though. ROH's website.

The DVD starts with a close-up of "The Wrestler" on a newspaper story. Kenny Omega then spoke about facing Rhett Titus tonight. He had a load of "go get 'em" lines about nothing, which seemed to be on purpose. I hope. Rhett Titus interrupted. Titus is awesome, but he's so awkward in his delivery, as he keeps pausing to remember the scripted lines.

Kyle Durdin was then with Chris Hero. Hero corrected Kyle Durdin on his name, then Durdin asked him about facing Erick Stevens. Tough camera shot with Hero being so tall. He just hovered over Durdin. Good heel promo from cocky Hero.

In-ring: Ring announcer Bobby Cruise gave the formal intros for the show. He name-checked the ringside officials, including an athletic commission representative and ringside doctor. Crowd booed these individuals.

(1) Kenny Omega beat Rhett Titus in 8:00. Basic opening match with Titus playing the over-bearing heel thrusting his hips every which way. Rick Rude tapes would be invaluable to Titus on how to be more subtle about his hip-thrusting mid-match to generate heel heat. Omega with an electric chair into German Suplex that he didn't execute in full due to the back work from Titus during the match for the pin. Finish generated a strong reaction, though. (*1/2)

(2) Chris Hero (w/Sweet 'n Sour, Inc.) beat Erick Stevens in 11:00. Stevens tried to get a jump-start on Hero by attacking him before the bell, but Hero quickly fought off the advance. Hero started punching Stevens in the face, but Stevens no-sold and smiled. He then warmed up the choo-choo corner splash, followed by a shoulder block for a nearfall. Sara Del Ray ran interference at 10:00, allowing Sweeney to slip a loaded elbow pad to Hero. Stevens then walked into a Yakuza kick to the face and Hero made the pin for the win. (**)

Backstage: Brent Albright talked to Roderick Strong about getting a re-match against Kensuke Sasaki. Tonight, they team up against Sasaki and Nakajima. Your basic pre-match promo.

(3) Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Brent Albright & Roderick Strong in 15:00. Sasaki is one big dude. He came in second for his team and no-sold Strong's trademark chops. We'll see how long that lasts in the match. Albright and Sasaki had a great exchange at 4:00 where Sasaki refused to leave his feet, then Albright finally nailed a dropkick to win the exchange. Nakajima is the undersized "protégé" of Sasaki, so you're looking for something that makes him stand out from similar Japanese wrestlers that have been featured in ROH.

At 13:00, it was Strong vs. Sasaki again, and Sasaki no-sold those trademark chops again before putting Strong in a shoulder vice. Action broke down when Albright broke up the hold, then Sasaki and Nakajima lit up Albright with combo kicks and slaps. Pretty sick sequence. Albright escaped a pin, but Sasaki finished him off with a modified brainbuster suplex for the pin and the win. All four took a bow post-match. Heck of an undercard match. Sasaki played the perfect strong man while Nakajima had his moments to shine. Sasaki showed how to wrestle like a big man, which everyone in the back should have been paying attention to. (***1/2)

Backstage: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards were warming up while Larry Sweeney talked them up. Richards cut a promo that these American Wolves are about to devour the tag division.

(4) Takeshi Morishima beat Go Shiozaki (w/Larry Sweeney) in 12:00. The battle of 2007 Japanese star (Morishima) vs. 2008 Japanese star (Go) started quickly and moved to the floor within the first minute. I'm not a big fan of seeing Morishima taken off his feet so quickly in a match. The big men exchanged power holds in the first ten minutes. Morishima then tried to leaping hit attack off the ropes, but Go had a nice counter into a German Suplex for a two count. Morishima no-sold chops, then nailed a wicked lariat setting up the backdrop driver for the pin and the win. Good match, but the early highspots took away from the "battle of the big men" intrigue and drama. (**3/4)

(5) Jay & Mark Briscoe beat European Union (ROH champion Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli) and American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) in 20:00 in a three-team elimination match. After some three-way tag team exchanges, Eddie Edwards surprised Claudio with a roll-up at 11:00 to score a pin and eliminate the ROH champ and Claudio. Afterward, Claudio snapped on the ringside officials in frustration and chucked the timekeeper into the front row.

Wolves vs. Briscoes portion focused on the Wolves attacking Mark Briscoe's injured right knee to begin an injury angle. The action then broke down into the usual Texas Tornado-style Briscoes tag match with a flurry of power moves and double-team spots. Jay eventually saved the match for his brother by hitting the Jay Driller on Edwards for the pin and the win. Match featured some good moments in the ring, but also had the "fit in a ton of highspots in the allotted time" feel where the audience is trained just to sit back and "ooh and aaah" waiting for the finish. (**1/2)

Backstage: Marufuji was interviewed in Japanese. Dude looks like a rock star or a movie star. One or the other. Marufuji in a track jacket with a clean goatee is a sweet look. His translator said Austin Aries is a very good wrestler and he's looking forward to a good match of Japanese style vs. American style.

(6) Naomichi Marufuji beat Austin Aries in 20:00. Marufuji dominated the first ten minutes of the match, then Aries took control and started jawing with the fans. Announcers speculated what was up with Aries talking to the fans, which was foreshadowing for the imminent anti-fans storyline. Aries nailed a suicide dive on the floor late in the match, but Marufuji kicked out before three. This led to a sweet exchange of kick strikes that concluded with Marufuji nailing three consecutive kicks into a standing modified Sliced Bread maneuver for the pin and the win. Very good match. Not flashy or amazing, but just a very good match-up with plenty of offense between two great wrestlers. Loss was fine for Aries, as it set up his anti-fans program. (***1/2)

Post-match: Prince Nana showed up ringside begging ROH president Cary Silkin for a job. He just wants one more shot. "We want Nana" was the chant from the crowd. Nana then bailed through the audience.

(7) Age of the Fall (Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious) beat Necro Butcher (w/Daizee Haze) & ROH tag team champions El Generico & Kevin Steen in 14:00. Age of the Fall came out and the fans chanted, "Next World champ." This was aimed toward Black, but Jacobs accepted the praise. Cute. Brawl broke out ringside before the bell sounded, then Black and Generico finally started things off inside the ring. Match settled into an isolation of Generico for a while, then Steen took a hot tag and started throwing men around.

Action broke down into a six-man brawl, then Generico flew to the outside with a somersault splash. Delirious cut off Necro and wanted to use the spike, but Daizee Haze stepped into the ring to talk some sense into him. Delirious reluctantly dropped the spike, then he accepted a chokeslam from Necro. Delirious was left in the ring by himself and took a Package Piledriver from Steen, but the American Wolves suddenly jumped Generico. Ref was nowhere to be found. Davey Richards smashed Steen with a pipe, then Jacobs put Steen in the End Times submission hold. Steen reluctantly tapped out when he couldn't break free. Match set up the tag champs against the Wolves via interference, but it felt very TNA-esque with the ref out of the picture for the outside interference. Not a memorable six-man tag. (**)

(8) Bryan Danielson beat Jerry Lynn in 27:00. ROH champ Nigel McGuinness joined Leonard and Prazak in the booth to comment on the singles match main event. Excellent feeling out process in the opening three minutes. Just sweet to watch two great wrestlers work in the ring. McGuinness was favoring Danielson on commentary, calling him the "second-best wrestler in the world" behind himself, of course. Match settled into Danielson working on the veteran Lynn to show Danielson's youth and wrestling acumen.

Sick counter at 25:00 when Lynn wanted the Cradle Piledriver, but Danielson countered in mid-air with a triangle choke into elbow strikes. Lynn eventually reached the bottom rope for a break. Nigel said he can't believe the fans are applauding a rope break so Lynn can take more damage to his broken-down body. They had a standing exchange that led to Danielson executing an inside cradle. Lynn rolled his shoulders on top, but Danielson rolled back on top and scored a three count when Lynn didn't have the energy to roll his shoulders up. Very good singles match. Easily the best match on the card. (***3/4)

Post-match: Official confirmation was Danielson got his shoulder up just before three to score the pin. Lynn was frustrated. Danielson took the mic and said Lynn proved himself worthy of "still having it" and being one of the best in the world. He said he looks forward to facing him again. Danielson handed the mic to Lynn, who said this business can be very frustrating, but he's grateful ROH gave him a job because of the talent in the company. Lynn and Danielson shook hands and Nigel signed off that this isn't ROH - two losers shaking hands in the ring.

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