ROH Final Battle 2016 Review: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly, Cody Rhodes Debuts

Credit: Ring of Honor, Ricky Havlik

ROH World Championship Match
Adam Cole (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Result: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole via submission to win the ROH World Championship.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Finally, after multiple tries to do so, O’Reilly beat Cole, and on arguably ROH’s biggest stage at Final Battle. It took place in a bloody war of a match, which capped off the evening.

Minutes into the match, O’Reilly got busted open on his forehead. Blood covered his face for a few minutes before he got cleaned up a bit. Cole would later follow suit, but not before superkicking O’Reilly, who had a trash can around his head.

More from ROH

• ROH: Billie Starkz challenges ATHENA for Final Battle
• ROH: The tag team titles belong on a team on Honor Club
• ROH will crown new television champion at Final Battle
• Samoa Joe did not need to vacate the Ring of Honor TV Championship
• ROH: Eddie Kingston suspended by Stokely Hathaway

The highlight of this match saw the tacks being brought out by Cole. This eventually saw both men land onto them, including a Brain Buster to the Bullet Club member, which quickly led to the bout’s finish. It gave O’Reilly his first-ever ROH World Championship, which should begin a lengthy reign.

As for the overall match, it seemed to be missing something. While the No Disqualification stipulation seemed to have been done to highlight the possible end of a rivalry, it took away from the match. There were a bit too many spots with weapons, which took away from the in-ring showing. The crowd never seemed to get too into it either, something that could have been caused by fatigue too. That’s not to say it was a bad match, because it certainly succeeded. Compared to the tag and TV title bouts, though, this did not exceed it.

Also, let the Adam Cole-WWE rumors begin (if there are any legs to it). While this match gives no indication of his future, it’s certainly worth noting how often it’s brought up about the multi-time ROH champion leaving for greener pastures. Given how others like Roderick Strong and Kevin Owens have left for the Leader in Sports Entertainment, maybe Cole follows suit.

Related Story: Cody Debuts at Final Battle (Video)

So, what did you think of the ROH Final Battle pay-per-view?