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ROH FINAL BATTLE 2024 REPORT
DECEMBER 20th, 2024
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB STREAMING SERVICE
REPORT BY JOHN CLINTSMAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
ZERO HOUR PRE SHOW
(a) DARK ORDER (John Silver & Alex Reynolds w/ Evil Unu) vs. THE GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS (James Drake & Zack Gibson)
This was a fantastic opening match that was full of action and lots of fun moves. The match looked like it belonged to Dark Order after Evil Uno got involved distracting the Grizzled Young Vets, but after a lot of back and forth action, the vets pulled out the High/Low and got the pin.
WINNERS: Grizzled Young Veterans in 13:00.
(b) HARLEY CAMERON vs. HANAKO
Hanako proved immediately at the start that she is the stronger of the 2 wrestlers. Every move Harley attempted, Hanako was able to block or counter. Harley countered a splash in the corner and took control getting a near pin, but can not maintain control for long as Hanako gets the pin.
WINNER: Hanako in 7:30.
(c) THE INFANTRY vs. UNDISPUTED KINGDOM
The fight started before the bell as The Infantry attacked The undisputed Kingdom. The Infantry started quick and dominated early not allowing the Undisputed Kingdom time to get much offence in.
The Infantry was able to get several cheapshots and illegal actions in behind the refs back, Undisputed Kingdoms first tag came when the refs back was turned making it void. The United Kingdom finally got some offence when a legal tag was finally made (Damon to Bennett). Bennett was in charge until Sharp tripped Bennett from the outside of the ring. This match was a hard fought back and forth battle.
WINNER: Undisputed Kingdom in 10:30.
(d) LEE J vs. GATES OF AGONY
Fantastic Match, if you can only watch 1 match from zero hour this is it. There has been build up to this one, and both teams worked to tell a story. This was a back and forth match for 12 solid minutes.
WINNERS: Gates of Agony in 12:00.
FINAL BATTLE 2024 MAIN SHOW
(1) ATLANTIS JR. vs. MANSOOR (w/Mason)
The match opened with the ceremonial touching of the tips. Once the bell rang the two went into some traditional wrestling moves and reversals. Mansoor breaks out in a few poses and Mason jumps up on the ring apron to strike a pose, the crowd starts a “Pose forever chant”.
Mansoor controlled much of the early part of the match. Mansoor continues posing to the crowd giving Atlantas an opportunity to take over. Atlantas went to the top rope, Mason jumped on the apron and distracted Atlantas allowing Mansoor the opportunity to pull Atlantis off the top rope and take back over.
With the referee distracted, Mason jumped up on the ring apron and grabbed Atlantis, Atlantis was able to kick mason off the apron, Mason began yelling at the crowd when suddenly Danhaussen crawled out from under the ring and punched Mason right in the ‘ding ding’.
Atlantis Jr pulled off a suicide dive onto both Mansoor and Mason then hit a frog splash into Mansoor to pin him.
Mason attacked Atlantis post match but Danhaussen came in for the save.
WINNER: Atlantis Jr. in 14:00.
(2) “DYNAMITE KID” TOMMY BILLINGTON vs. “THE WRESTLER” KATSUYORI SHIBATA
Tommy Billington making his ROH debut. Another match starting with traditional wrestling moves and reversals. Shibata takes over early with several submission style moves.
Both men maintained a slow and steady pace without it feeling like it was too much. Billington tapped out to a sleeper submission. This was a fantastic wrestling match, no flash no extras just wrestling.
WINNER: Katsuyori Shibata in 10:00.
(3) Q.T. MARSHALL vs. JAY LETHAL
QT Marshall came out dressed like the NWO Macho man and Jay Lethal came out as Black Machismo. If the previous match was everything you want in a pure wrestling match this one was for everyone that wants a little or a lot of comedy.
I did find it odd that they built this one as a blood feud on ROH Honor club episode 95 then it turned into a comedy skit. Jeff Jarrett came to the ring when Aaron Solo put his hand on Karen Jarrett, Solo wore a guitar crown home.
The Ending got messy with Karen, Jeff, Aaron Solo and Sonjay all getting involved. The crowd was extremely into this one and both men put on a good match.
WINNER: Jay Lethal in 13:00.
(4) RED VELVET vs. LEYLA HIRST – ROH Women’s TV Championship match
The ROH Womens TV title was on the line in this one. Leyla took control early but that didn’t last long as Red Velvet made her comeback. This was an extremely physical match and both women looked very good.
After a back and forth physical match Red Velvet used a wrench to knock out Hirst while the referee was distracted.
WINNER: Red Velvet to retain the ROH Womens’ TV Championship in 12:00.
(5) LEE MORIARTY vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS – ROH Pure Championship match
This match was for the ROH Pure Championship and contested under the original pure title rules. When Nigel McGuinness came out the crowd went absolutely crazy.
The match started with simple wrestling moves and submissions, this was a good showing of technical ability. Nigel looked really good considering he has wrestled a very limited amount over the last decade. After a fantastic match Moriaty ended up pulling out the win via submission.
WINNER: Lee Moriaty to retain the ROH Pure Champion in 17:00.
(6) SONS OF TEXAS (Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes) vs. THE RIGHTEOUS (Dutch & Vincent) – ROH World Tag Team Championship Double Bullrope match
This match had one of the best stories leading into Final Battle and it’s the one I was most excited about. The fight started well before the bull ropes were attached. Three minutes after the fight started, Dustin and Sammy finally attached themselves to The Righteous and the bell rang.
This was by far the most brutal match on the card, as the 4 men fought everywhere using several different weapons including the bell that Dusty used.
WINNERS: Sons of Texas in 21:00 to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
(7) BRIAN CAGE vs. WILLIE MACK vs. MARK DAVIS vs. KOMANDER vs. A.R. FOX vs. BLAKE CHRISTIAN – Survival of the Fittest TV Title Match
-Willie Mack eliminated by Brian Cage
-A.R. Fox Eliminated by Brian Cage
-Brian Cage Eliminated by Mark Davis
-Mark Davis Eliminated by Blake Chriatian
When Cage was eliminated third, we were guaranteed a new TV Champion. This was a fantastic Survival of the fittest match, and if you get a chance to watch it I highly recommend watching it.
WINNER: Blake Christian to become the new ROH TV Champion.
(8) CHRIS JERICHO vs. MATT CARDONA – ROH World Championship match
Cardona entered the arena from the streets of NY City, and the N.Y. crowd loved him for it. Cardona started out by beating the hell out of Jericho and coming close to a win very early with a Rough Ryder but Jericho kicked out at almost 3.
This was not a no DQ match, but the referee allowed Cardona to use a belt and he also allowed Bryan Keith to get involved as well. Honestly this one fell short for me due to it feeling over booked, but the crowd stayed in it. Jericho ended up getting the win. After the match, Bandido came in to save Cardona from a post match beat down.
WINNER: Chris Jericho to retain the ROH World Championship in 23:00.
(9) ATHENA vs. BILLIE STARKZ – ROH Women’s World Championship match
This match is over 1 year in the making and continues to help carry the ROH women’s division. You could feel early in the match how personal this match was. Both women shined in this match, it was a hard fought back and forth battle for over 30 minutes. In the end Athena won again.
WINNER: Athena to retain the ROH Women’s World Championship in 30:00.
The good, bad and ugly…..My Final thoughts about Final Battle 2024
- Best Match of the night: by far was the main event Athena vs Billie Starks, both women fought hard and once again stole the show. Personally I feel not having Starkz win was a missed opportunity for ROH.
- Biggest disappointment: QT Marshall vs Jay Lethal, for all the build up to this one they turned it into an overbooked mess. ROH should trust the wrestlers to be the attraction, or don’t build it as a personal feud.
- This event was way too long. Even for someone at home I was exhausted watching the show, but to the crowd’s credit they did a good job staying hot for it.
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