ROH will crown new television champion at Final Battle

Two weeks ago, Samoa Joe became the longest reigning ROH Television Champion in company history. Six days later, he vacated the title after defeating Keith Lee. He has his sights solely on dethroning MJF as AEW World Champion.

Last Thursday, ROH was supposed to address the vacant title per a tweet from the official account. Instead, it was just an announcement for an announcement. Fans were told to tune into this week’s episode to learn how the vacant title would be addressed.

On episode 38, we finally got the announcement. A new television champion will be crowned on December 15 in Garland, Texas at Final Battle. Instead of a tournament, there will be a series of eliminator matches to determine the participants in a Survival of the Fittest match. The match at Final Battle will consist of six wrestlers.

ROH could’ve handled the TV title much differently. The most obvious option would have been to have Keith Lee defeat Joe. Lee is a beloved wrestler and losing to him wouldn’t have hurt Joe. Perhaps he would’ve been a transitional champion. While that isn’t ideal, it’s better than having the title forfeited.

Dalton Castle has had his eyes on the TV title for weeks. Mark Briscoe has stated numerous times that it is his dream to hold that title. Briscoe just returned from injury. Why not have Briscoe or Castle face the champion at Final Battle and beat him there? It sends the fans home happy, puts the title on a fan favorite, and Joe is free to pursue the title he actually wants.

Lastly, Joe could’ve been a double champion. He held the TV title and the AEW TNT Championship simultaneously. In addition to being the AEW World Champion, MJF is one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions. If anyone should’ve vacated a title, it should’ve been our Scumbag. His partner, Adam Cole, will be out due to injury for the foreseeable future. There’s no reason for MJF to still have that title.

While we don’t know who will be in the eliminator matches, Castle and Briscoe should be in those matches and advance to Final Battle. Perhaps a surprising competitor has comes forward as a potential participant. One half of the Workhorsemen, Anthony Henry, has stated he wants in. He tweeted, “I love (sic) want nothing more than Drake and I to, eventually, go after the tag titles, but an opportunity is an opportunity.”

It’s impressive that Samoa Joe broke a prestigious record. It feels as though he doesn’t give a damn about the record or the title. He could’ve put someone over instead of vacating (looking back, Shane Taylor should’ve defeated him at ALL OUT). Whomever is the next champion now has the task of making the television championship seem important again.