ROH Final Battle iPPV Report

The show started right on time with the hype video that aired on television last week, highlighting the Steen-Generico feud.

Caleb Seltzer was the color man, and Kevin Kelly explained that Nigel's official replacement could not make it to New York, citing "Personal reasons." "Yes!" chants began almost immediately.

Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong. A match nearly a year in the making opening the show pretty much shows the impressive depth of this card. A perfect opener, pitting the fast, cunning Roderick Strong against the raw power and intensity of Michael Elgin. Roddy accidentally chopped the steel post early on. More fans were cheering Roddy than I expected. Martini came out at one point and watched Elgin hit a belly-to-belly suplex to Strong over the top rope. The idea was Truth cheered whomever was in control. "The proverbial two-headed coin," Kevin Kelly called him. Lots of brawling on the outside, with both guys eventually heading back into the ring and breaking the match down. Elgin hit a spinning black hole slam for a two-count, followed by a variation of a Death Valley Driver. Elgin went for his corkscrew senton but Strong cut him off and hit a backbreaker to Elgin across the turnbuckle. Later they fought up top, culminating with Elgin hitting an impressive deadlift superplex for a nearfall. Elgin no-sold double-knees from Strong and hit a sick clothesline, prompting chants of, "This is awesome!" Martini booted the Book of Truth into the ring, Roddy tried to use it, but Elgin hit him with a spinning backfist. Truth nailed Elgin with a foreign object, allowing Elgin to get the pin. Afterward, Truth put Roddy over, and Roddy basically told Truth to "Get bent." So Truth, once again dumped, tried to get back with Elgin, literally proclaiming his love for Elgin. Elgin went to hit his powerbomb, but Truth cut him off and lectured him on being an unknown. Truth attributed all of Elgin's success to his mega managing skills. He slapped Elgin across the face, Elgin got pissed and leveled the wily manager. Cool little confrontation to set up a program for Elgin for the beginning of 2013.

They went to a recap of the Rahway show from October, where Steen spat on Lethal's mother and Lethal went nuts. That led into the match that Lethal reassured us last week on television wouldn't matter at all.

Jay Lethal vs. Rhino. "ECDub" chants to start, as Steve Corino came out for commentary. At one point Corino demanded Lethal get disqualified for getting Rhino over the top rope. Rhino hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. Rhino put Lethal in a bear hug for about a thousand hours. It was hard to pay attention to this match because Corino was busy being awesome on commentary. Rhino went for the gore but ate a superkick from Lethal. Lethal applied a koji clutch, but Rhino powered out of it and slammed Lethal. In anti-climactic fashion, Lethal hit his lethal Injection for the win. Highlight of the match? Corino should be on commentary forever. Corino got on the microphone and berated Lethal for promising to get involved in the main event tonight. He said he dated Lethal's mother, and Kevin Kelly went, "Ooooh!" like he was five. While Corino yelled at Lethal, Jimmy Jacobs ambushed Lethal from behind, and both guys beat the man down, setting up a gore from Rhino. Corino called Lethal a "second match turd" to end the segment.

Prince Nana vs. RD Evans. Evans came out wearing a pink cape, getting "Power Ranger" chants. Nana and Evans have to be among the most entertaining characters in all of pro wrestling. The match started with less comedy than I expected, with Nana diving onto Evans and Marshall, who was cornering Evans. Later Evans went for an elbow but Nana kicked him in the face. Nana hit a senton, to which Seltzer replied, "he's in the money!" At one point Marshall pulled the referee out of the ring when Nana attempted a pin, and Ernie Osiris ran out to fight Marshall. Evans went up top, but Nana caught him and hit a superplex for a nearfall. In another anti-climactic finish, Evans hit an inverted clash for the win. Tommaso Ciampa came out and Evans freaked out.

Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas vs. BJ Whitmer & Rhett Titus. If I had to sum up this match in two words, they'd be season's beatings. Whitmer and Titus jumped the heels while they made their entrance. Titus brought out holiday-themed weapons, including a stocking with a crutch in it and candy canes. "Assault and battery with delicious treats," Seltzer said. The crowd chanted, "Merry Christmas." Titus brought out a Christmas tree. Kevin Kelly called it "The tree of woe." Awesome! The heels used the crutch, but the fans begged them to use the tree. The heels teased obliging, but they threw the tree away. They brought out kendo sticks, and the match broke down to a regular wrestling match for a while. Haas hit an Olympic slam for two. Later Benjamin got the guardrail and suplexed Whitmer onto it. Later Titus hip-tossed Haas onto the barricade, but Benjamin superkicked Titus. Titus and Benjamin fought on the apron until Benjamin hit his STO through the table. Haas belly-to-belly superplexed Whitmer head-first through the table, thankfully for the win. I didn't go in looking forward to this match, at all, but in the end I was pretty happy with it, mostly because of the festive weaponry.

Mike Bennett vs. Jerry Lynn. Great reception for Lynn. Back-and-forth action ends with "Brutal" Bob interfering and bringing the match back into Bennett's court. Lynn missed a splash and Bennett hit a backbreaker for a nearfall. They exchanged rights before Lynn built up a flurry of his own, slamming Bennett to the mat and hitting a rolling elbow. He hit a DDT for another two-count. Lynn kept up his momentum with a cutter off the apron to the floor. Bennett countered the piledriver, eventually hitting a spinebuster for two. Lynn hit a cutter onto a chair, but the referee was distracted. Lynn teased hitting Maria, but Bennett capitalized off the distraction and hit his Box Office Smash for the win. Lynn DDT'd Maria after the match and hit his cradle piledriver, prompting more ECDub chants. Everyone chanted "Thank you Jerry," "You still got it," and "Please don't go" before Lynn got on the microphone and joked that "It's all smoke and mirrors." He put the company over for a while. Nigel and some of the roster came out, and Nigel told a nice story where Lynn taught him what "being over" meant. They presented Lynn with a plaque. Lynn said he had six matches left. Really nice moment as the show almost went to intermission. But before they could throw, Jay Lethal confronted Nigel about SCUM attacking him earlier. He said he would still fight for the title tonight. Nigel suggested Lethal go backstage and cheer Generico to victory, so Lethal could get the first title shot. They yelled more, and Lethal spat on Nigel, forcing security to restrain both guys. Nigel told security to escort Lethal out of the building.

After the intermission, an injured Mike Mondo came out for an interview with Kevin Kelly. Mondo really perpetuates the annoying New Yorker stereotype. He said he would be back in four weeks in a very obnoxious way. Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish interrupted him, thankfully. Fish said he heard there would be no American Wolves reunion from Eddie Edwards himself. He dared Mondo to be Richards' partner until O'Reilly blindsided Mondo, and both guys beat him down until Davey Richards made the save. Both guys attacked Richards. Edwards ran out, teased siding with Fish and O'Reilly, and then superkicked Fish. They hit a double suicide dive, and the match was underway.

Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards. Richards hit a spin-out face buster, allowing Richards to hit a missile dropkick. They take turns chopping O'Reilly. Richards slowed the match down after that. Edwards took a missile dropkick into the barricade. The announcers mentioned in passing that BJ Whitmer had refused medical attention because he didn't want to give Charlie Haas the satisfaction. What satisfaction? The satisfaction of Whitmer feeling better? The heels worked over Edwards for a while. The heels hit a series of kicks to Edwards, with Richards making the save once again. O'Reilly took a superkick and a bunch of moves from the babyfaces. The Wolves both suplexed the heels to the outside as the fans chanted, "This is awesome!" Richards and O'Reilly stood in the ring together, and they treated it like a big deal, mentor and student exchanging strikes and submissions, culminating with Richards sinking in an ankle lock. O'Reilly rolled through and Edwards booted O'Reilly in the face. Edwards hit a clash for a nearfall. O'Reilly hit a tornado DDT, with Fish kicking Edwards in the head. Super fast pace in this match. O'Reilly and Richards exchanged moves again, with Richards catching O'Reilly with a lariat. Richards hit a double-knee backbreaker for a nearfall. Richards hit a double foot-stomp, with Edwards sinking in the Achilles lock for the win. Really fun, fast-paced match, but it was shorter than expected. It really felt at this point like they were trying to save time for the main event.

Matt Hardy vs. Adam Cole in a non-title match. Lots of boos for Hardy. Hardy thwarted a lot of Cole's moves early on, until Cole hit a dive to Hardy as he exited the ring. He hit a crossbody and pounded Hardy with right hands. They fought on the apron, until Hardy hit a side effect leaving him standing tall, and his belly standing wide. Cole locked on a figure-four, but it got broken up. Hardy hit four more side effects in a row, but Cole still kicked out. Cole fought out of a Twist of Fate attempt, but Hardy hit an elbow from the second rope, but ate a superkick from Cole for two. Cole hit a Twist of Fate of his own for a nearfall. Cole bounded off the ropes with an enzuigiri and shining wizard for two. Hardy came back with a crucifix powerbomb for another nearfall. Cole hit his Florida Key suplex to the floor. Hardy suddenly came back and hit a Twist of Fate, but Cole kicked out. Cole applied another figure-four, Hardy tried to reverse but eventually he reached the bottom rope. Hardy pulled the referee's shirt over his head and hit a low blow to Cole, allowing Hardy to pick up the win. Looks like we'll get the inevitable title match somewhere down the line, probably at the 11th Anniversary show in March from Chicago.

Coleman & Alexander vs. The Briscoes vs. Corino & Jacobs for the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships. Both babyface teams immediately tried to take out the champions. Mark hit his second rope elbow, but CnC Wrestlefactory broke up the fall. The champions teased leaving but the Briscoes chased them and dragged them back. Typical triple-threat, with everyone fighting everybody and breaking up pins. Coleman and Jay exchanged punches for a while until Caprice hit a cutter. Jacobs hit Sliced Bread Number Two. Corino hit Alexander in the face with a roll of quarters, but Cedric kicked out. The Briscoes hit the Doomsday Device for the win and their eighth tag title. The Briscoes talked about Generico beating Steen for the title. Jay extended an open invitation to the entire tag team division.

El Generico vs. Kevin Steen in a ladder war for the Ring of Honor World Championship. This match was exactly what you would expect from these guys and more. Crazy, crazy match that's really hard to put into words. Both guys immediately started teeing off, with Generico hitting a tornado DDT, his yakuza kick, and a senton over the ropes. Not two minutes in and Generico went to grab a ladder, catching Steen in the face multiple times. Steen backdropped Generico onto the ladder. Later Steen hit his cannonball to the ladder to Generico's face. Steen broke the barricade after whipping Generico into it. With Generico incapable of walking, Steen tried to climb the ladder. Generico managed to pull Steen down, and both men exchanged rights, with Generico nailing an exploder suplex onto the ladder. Steen prevented Generico from climbing, but Generico ducked and hit another suplex onto the ladder. Steen dropped the ladder out from under Generico. Generico attempted a tornado DDT, but Steen turned it into a backbreaker mid-move. The theme of this match seemed to be Generico getting killed. Steen sent Generico into the guardrail a few times. As if this match needed it, Steen brought a table out from under the ring. In the most elaborate and crazy spot I've seen in a while, Steen set up a table on the apron and guardrail, which was set on top of the ladder, but Generico backdropped Steen through it. That was insane. Later Generico tried for the top rope brainbuster, but Steen countered into a facebuster onto a table. Generico had brought up a huge ladder, Steen climbed up high, and Generico sent a smaller ladder into Steen's back. They set up a bunch of smaller ladders and rammed them into one another. Steen powerbombed Generico onto a ladder, but Generico somehow grabbed Steen's ankle before he could climb up. Generico came back and hit a package piledriver to Steen. Steen stacked two ladders on top of each other, with two ladders below them, with both men fighting on the uppermost ladder while fans chanted "please don't die!" Steen hit a package piledriver from the uppermost ladder, with Generico only going through the first ladder but not breaking through the second. That was the final blow, as Steen managed to climb the ladder and take down the new world title. Brutal, horrific match. So great.

From top to bottom this was another great show from Ring of Honor. The stream was excellent. My only complaint on that was just before intermission the stream buffered and came back in lower quality than before, but that was probably specific to my Internet connection and not the company's fault at all. ROH is on a roll with Internet pay-per-view, and with the acquisition of Ooyala's services, here's hoping that roll continues into 2013 for the 11th Anniversary show from Chicago.