Ring of Honor: Final Battle 2014 Review

On Sunday, Ring of Honor held their biggest event of the year, Final Battle, from New York City.

It looks to be a stacked card, but it’s a big event for ROH, and it has to live up to the hype. Though, living up to the hype is something that ROH does very well.

Let’s break down each match.

Mark Briscoe vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Hanson in a 4 Corner Survival Match

Hanson was booked very strong in this match, as he kept shutting down Jacobs’ attempts to take him down.

Briscoe looked really good as well, doing all the stuff that’s made him such a fan-favorite.

Hanson pinned Coleman after hitting a Spin Kick of Doom.

Hanson defeats Coleman, Jacobs and Briscoe via pinfall.

3.5 out of 5 stars – While the match started slow, it was a lot of fun at the end. They had a bunch of good spots involving all four men, and the final sequence was really exciting.

Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer promo

Jacobs talked about Adam Page having a chance to grab the “brass ring,” but Whitmer corrected him and said that he will and that he will become a full member of The Decade.

Adam Page vs. Roderick Strong

This was a fight early on, and Page was on top, until Strong was able to take advantage of Page’s aggression.

Though Whitmer and Jacobs let them fight at the beginning, it wasn’t long until they got involved and distracted Strong, helping Page take over with a huge clothesline. Whitmer got involved again, and Strong was forced to take up a lot of time to take him out, but he still managed to keep control of Page.

Strong consistently worked on Page’s back, and put him away with the Strong Breaker, then immediately put him in the Strong Hold, then modified by elevating it and putting his knee in Page’s back, making Page pass out.

Strong defeats Page via referee stoppage.

After the match, Jacobs shook Page’s hand, while Whitmer went to say something on commentary, but after he ripped the headset off Steve Corino’s head, Corino shot up and the two almost fought, but they were separated.

3.75 out of 5 stars – Page and Strong told a really good story with the teacher-student dynamic. Strong showed he’s still on top, while Page showed he definitely has what it takes.

Michael Elgin vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Both men went back-and-forth early, with their similarly physical styles.

Elgin went to put Ciampa through a table, and flipped off the referee, who was trying to tell him not to use it. He got Ciampa up, but Ciampa countered and got out of the way.

The back-and-forth nature of the match continued, with Ciampa kicking out of an Elgin Bomb, and Elgin kicking out of Project Ciampa.

Ciampa hit a big clothesline on Elgin, but inadvertently took the referee out as well. Ciampa immediately looked at Nigel, who shot out of his chair, and went to the back. The distraction allowed Elgin to hit a double underhook implant DDT.

Elgin defeats Ciampa via pinfall.

2.75 out of 5 stars – The angle at the end with Ciampa was very interesting. The rest of the match fell flat.

The Addiction and Cedric Alexander vs. ACH and The Young Bucks

All six guys were throwing each other around early on, until The Bucks and ACH took over on Alexander, with a little cheating from The Bucks.

When ACH took things to the outside on Alexander, The Addiction used some illegal moves of their own to help slow ACH’s momentum.

The action really picked up, and all six men were involved in the fast-paced action.

Alexander took a Meltzer Driver from The Young Bucks, and a 450 from ACH.

ACH and The Young Bucks defeat Alexander and The Addiction via pinfall.

4 out of 5 stars – Spot fest, but an awesome spot fest. I really didn’t want much more from this match. Nobody is better than The Young Bucks.

Moose vs. R.D. Evans

Evans looked surprisingly strong early on, but it was only a matter of time before Moose took over.

Veda Scott would eventually come down to ringside, looking upset at how badly Evans was being decimated, but that’s when Evans started to turn things around.

Evans actually had Moose reeling at one point, locking in the Sharpshooter, and forcing Prince Nana and Stokely Hathaway to try and help him by giving him a chair. The referee sent them both to the back, and had to try and run them back there. While the referee was occupied with them, Veda jumped in the ring and surprised Evans with a low blow, leaving him a sitting duck for a spear from Moose.

Moose defeats Evans via pinfall.

2.5 out of 5 stars – Moose has a lot of potential. This match wasn’t great, but the potential is very easy to see. Evans is filled with charisma.

Prince Nana promo

Nana wrapped his arm around Veda and said that “karma is a bitch.”

Jay Lethal vs. Matt Sydal for the ROH World Television Championship

Lethal went for a Lethal Injection early, but Sydal side-stepped it. Shortly after, Sydal was looking for a Shooting Star Press, but Lethal rolled out of the way.

After that, Truth Martini and Jay Diesel provided Lethal with a little help, and he had some unrelenting offense on Sydal.

Sydal got back into it by side-stepping another Lethal Injection, and igniting his comeback.

Sydal hit a Shooting Star Press on Lethal, but Truth pulled the referee out of the ring as he was about to count to three. Sydal chased Truth around the ring, and ended that chase with a Shooting Star Press, but as he was coming down, Lethal caught him with a cutter, and followed with a Lethal Injection for the win.

Lethal defeats Sydal via pinfall.

3.5 out of 5 stars – I liked this match a lot, but there was too much going on with Truth for me to love it.

reDRagon vs. The Time Splitters for the ROH World Tag Team Championship

Kyle O’Reilly and KUSHIDA started the match off, and things were pretty even, until they tagged out to Bobby Fish and Alex Shelley. Fish and Shelley kept things even, until Shelley got on a roll and put his team in control.

Shelley and KUSHIDA used some very frequent tags, as they worked on O’Reilly and were very impressive. O’Reilly did everything he could to help himself and get Fish into the match, but The Time Splitters stayed on top of reDRagon and cut that effort short.

Fish took Shelley out on the apron, and O’Reilly still had to work on Shelley a bit, but it went a long way into helping reDRagon take over and beat up on Shelley.

KUSHIDA got the hot tag from Shelley and was forced to deal with both members of reDRagon in the ring at the same time, and he did a great job of it. The match broke down, and it featured a lot of high-flying action, and from there, the action mostly featured all four men in the ring together.

KUSHIDA was able to kick out of a brainbuster, then Chasing the Dragon, but he eventually tapped out to the Cross Arm Breaker.

reDRagon defeat The Time Splitters via submission.

4.25 out of 5 stars – This match was totally different from the six-man tag match earlier in the night. That was a well-organized spot fest, and this was a display of what makes tag team wrestling great. Both matches were show stealing performances.

Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole in a Fight Without Honor for the ROH World Championship

The brawl was no early, and Briscoe pulled out an early and surprising Jay Driller, getting a quick two-count and stunning Cole.

Briscoe kept the attack up, and put Cole through a table with a double-foot stomp, then pulled out a staple gun from his pocket. He was ready to use it, but Cole surprised him with a chair shot, then grabbed the staple gun and stapled a sheet of paper with Mrs. Briscoe’s name on it.

The carnage continued in the ring. Chairs and kendo sticks were involved, as both guys took shots to the head.

Cole was working on Briscoe’s legs around the ring post, but Briscoe was able to pull Cole head-first into the post, seriously cutting him open. The match would be temporarily stopped so that Cole could be worked on, but Briscoe couldn’t be DQ’d, and he knew that, and he continued to go after Cole, sending the medical team to the back.

With Briscoe on the middle ropes on the outside, Cole delivered a superkick, which sent Briscoe through a table on the floor. He then got him in the ring and hit a superkick to the back of the head, before a Florida Key, and Briscoe kicked out in two.

Cole went to follow up with Panama Sunrise, but Briscoe caught him on his shoulders, and put Cole through a table in the corner with a Death Valley Driver.

Briscoe went and got the tacks, but Cole hit him with a low blow, grabbed some tacks and put them in Briscoe’s mouth, so that he could hit a devastating superkick. Cole looked to follow up on that, but Briscoe caught him with a huge back body drop onto the tacks, then a Jay Driller, but Cole kicked out again.

While Cole was recovering, Briscoe retrieved the belt, and laid it on the ground in front of Cole. As Cole got to his knees, he saw the belt in front of him, as he looked up at Briscoe in desperation. Briscoe pulled him up and hit a Jay Driller onto the belt for the win.

Briscoe defeats Cole via pinfall.

After the match, Final Battle went off the air with both men down in the ring.

4.5 out of 5 stars – I am not a fan of hardcore matches, but this was great. This was a feud that deserved a brutal hardcore match, and Briscoe and Cole really came through.

Overall Impression

This was a great show.

ROH stepped into Nashville for Best in the World back in June, and they put on a good show in front of the biggest audience they ever had, but it was slightly underwhelming. Final Battle corrected that.

The Young Bucks, ACH-Cedric Alexander, The Addiction match was a huge bright spot in the early part of the show, and the final two matches closed the show in epic fashion.

This show is a perfect example of what ROH is all about.

What did you think of Final Battle? Let us know in the comments section below.

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