ROH Final Battle 2016: Preview and Predictions
WWE.com
Cody Rhodes vs. Jay Lethal
Cody Rhodes left WWE in May to go around the country and wrestle wherever he wanted. He had never been a top draw with the company, but outside of it, he has done pretty well for himself. This includes appearances in EVOLVE and TNA over the past few months.
At ROH Final Battle, Rhodes will make his promotional debut in a match with Jay Lethal. This has actually been hyped for a few months and had been one of the first bouts advertised for the December 2 show. He’ll face former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal.
It should be noted that Cody cannot use his last name of “Rhodes” here as WWE owns the rights to the “Cody Rhodes” name. So, he’ll be going under “Cody” or “Cody R” at Final Battle.
Despite Lethal being one of ROH’s top talents, there should be little doubt here that Cody wins. It’s the 31-year-old’s ROH debut and if they want him to return for more matches, they’ll start off his time there well with a win.
Prediction: Cody Rhodes defeats Jay Lethal.
ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
Lio Rush, Jay White, and KUSHIDA vs. The Kingdom
There are some very intriguing young faces in this match. Lio Rush won ROH’s 2016 Top Prospect Tournament and is on the rise as one of the top independent wrestling talents. Jay White joined ROH earlier this year after graduating from NJPW’s Young Lions. They’ll join KUSHIDA, one of Japan’s top junior heavyweight talents, to battle for the ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship.
On the other side, there’s the Matt Taven-led Kingdom. Yes, the same group that once had Adam Cole, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis with Taven as the fourth person. Cole is now a Bullet Club member and ROH World Champion, while Bennett and Kanellis are in TNA. So, Taven has resorted to finding two new Kingdom allies, and selected TK O’Ryan and Vinnie Marseglia.
There seems to be more promise with the Rush-White-KUSHIDA group. However, if ROH is looking to rebuild this new Kingdom, then they’ll give them titles to upgrade their status.