Ring of Honor 12/20/2024 Final Battle 2024

Ring of Honor 12/20/2024 Final Battle 2024

Atlantis Jr. vs Mansoor

AJ = Atlantis Jr.

Mansoor wants to touch fingertips and they do. Man wristlocks him and AJ reverses it. Man takes him down then rolls him up for 2. Man snapmares him into a pin attempt. AJ goes for the legsweep and Man poses. Man comes off the 2nd rope wih a diving armdrag. Man armdrags him then tiger feint armdrags him.

AJ flying headscissors him. AJ does an indian deathlock and Man ropebreaks. AJ goes to springboard and Madden trips him. Man slingshot neckbreakers him and falcon arrows him. Man pulls on AJ's mask then pulls the arm and chin. AJ armdrags him and takes a back enzugiri.

Man corner lariats him. AJ enzugiri's him and tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him twice. Man takes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on a crossbody attempt. AJ then does Mei Seira's flipping crucifix move. Madden distracts AJ up top. Man suplexes AJ off the buckles.

Man misses a top rope moonsault then death valley drivers AJ into the buckles. Man top rope moonsaults AJ for 2. Atlantis germans Man. AJ then wheelbarrow germans him into the buckles. Man gets his knees up on AJ's top rope frogsplash. Man springboards off the ropes and is caught with a cutter for 2.

Madden grabs AJ on the apron and AJ enzugiri's him. Danhausen comes out from under the ring in a mask. He low blows Madden and AJ topes Madden. Man gets catapulted outside osmehow on a slingshot sunset flip and AJ tope con hilos the heels outside. AJ hits a top rope frogsplash and wins.

Thoughts: It was a little long for an opener and I don't know why Danhausen was out here. It was okay otherwise though and Atlantis won as expected.

Atlantis motions that he wants another shot at the TV Title after. Madden attacks Atlantis from behind. Dan curses Madden then germans him. Dan pours teeth in Madden's mouth and facekicks him.

Lexi interviews Chris Jericho, who is wearing New York gear. He talks about the smell of hot dogs and sewage and says it's his hometown of NYC. He talks about having a piece of NY authentic pizza at Sbarro. He talks about Juan Soto staying in NYC and says he loves Soto as much as him. He says he has a responsibility to stay champ and says he will leave The Grand Apple as the champ.

Katsuyori Shibata vs "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington

I was wondering what happened to Tom as he had not appeared for months after being signed. KS snapmares him and Tom turns it into a hammerlock. KS wristlocks him. Tom rolls out and headflips up. Tom side headlocks KS. KS side headlock takeovers him. Tom headscissors him. KS twists his foot then does an indian deathlock.

KS side headlocks him. Tom topes him. KS facekicks Tom off the apron. KS figure fours him and Tom reverses it. Tom germans him. KS no sells it and germans him. Tom no sells that and suplexes him. KS sto's him and corner dropkicks him. KS armbars him and does a triangle with a kimura. Tom ropebreaks.

Tom dropkicks him then lariats him. Tom back elbows him then snap suplexes him. Tom top rope dropkicks KS. Tom springboard ddt's him on the apron. Tom hits a top rope diving headbutt. Tom hits forearms and KS sleepers him. KS then submits him with it.

Thoughts: It ended kind of abruptly here. What we got was alright but nothing too special. I don't get the logic of bringing Tom back just to have him lose.

Jay Lethal vs QT Marshall

Both guys are dressed up like Macho Man Randy Savage. Jay wants a handshake then gets punched. Karen Jarrett is with Jay and is supposed to be Liz, but honestly is dressed more like Sherri. Jay hits punches and elbows him. Jay pulls him down over the top rope rope then top rope double axe handles him. Jay hiptosses him and cartwheels into a basement dropkick.

QT sends Jay into the rails then gets tope'd. Jay grabs the girl who came out with QT. Karen Jarrett, who is supposed to be Miss Elizabeth here, gets mad. Jay hits corner punches on QT then is pulled down on the top rope. QT 2nd rope tornado ddt's Jay.

Jay crossbodies him then armdrags him. Jay shoulders him over and QT stunguns him. QT hits punches. Jay hits chops. Jay hits running forearms and a leg lariat. Jay backdrop lifts him into a neckbreaker for 2. Jay figure fours him.

Jay grabs QT by the leg. Aaron Solo holds onto QT. Sonjay Dutt then figure fours Solo while Jay figure fours QT. QT cutters Dutt. Jay hits a lethal combination. Jay climbs the top and is crotched by Solo. Karen goes after Solo. Solo grabs her then Jeff Jarrett comes out.

Jeff chases Solo in the ring and hits him with a guitar. Jay hits a top rope elbow drop on QT for 2. QT hits a cross rhodes on Jay for 2. Jay boots QT out of the corner. Jay pump kicks and enzugiri's QT. QT pop up forearms him. QT springboards and is caught with a cutter. QT hits a lethal injection for 2.

They trade forearms on their knees. Jay backslides him then cradles him for 2. Jay hits a handspring cutter. Jay then hits a 2nd one and gets the pin.

Thoughts: I didn't like this at all. This was supposed to be a serious match as the two had issues and it was half comedy with lots of shenanigans. I thought it was also bad since Jay was like one of the last main eventers from ROH and this should have been treated as a major, serious deal. I also didn't like the top rope elbow drop being kicked out of.

ROH Women's World Television Title Match - Red Velvet (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch

Red grabs her by the head and LH rolls her down. LH side headlocks her then shoulders her over. Red cradles her for 2. LH rolls her off of her back. Red side headlocks her. Red rolls her into the ropes throat first. Red double knees her against the ropes. Red sto's her then stomps her arm into the mat.

Red hits a punch combo in the corner. Paul Turner is outside and wants to know if LH can continue. Red stomps on LH in the corner and facekicks her. LH pendulum double boots her in the corner. LH yanks her into a backdrop. Red no sells it and spears her for 2.

LH whips her down by the arm. LH stomps the arm then armwhips her into the buckles. LH bangs Red's head off the buckles. LH then rolls over her back and germans her from the 2nd rope. LH then does the move again and germans her. They trade forearms and slaps. 

Red kicks her in the arm and trips her into the ropes. LH hits a powerbomb. LH walks up the buckles and moonsaults Red for 2. LH bangs Red's arm off the mat. They trade pin attempts. Red running facekicks her for 2.

LH armbars her. Red spin kicks her in the head for 2. Red drops her with a shot. LH barely hits a snake eyes. Red corkscrew kicks her in the head for 2.

Red goes under the ring and gets the turnbuckle connector. The ref takes it from her. Red then hits LH with a wrench and pins her.

Thoughts: I didn't like this that much. It had some sloppy moments. They worked each others arms for a bit then just stopped. Then it had a dirty finish.

ROH Pure Title Match - Lee Moriarty (c) vs. Nigel McGuinness

Niger is the mystery opponent for this open challenge. He says he's ready to go and says let's do it ROH old school style under the old ROH Pure Title rules. Shane Taylor says "old is right". Shane says this is taiga style vs tired style. He says they will arrest Lee for elder abuse if he beats up Nigel tonight. Nigel said he never thought he was a coward. He says Shane is talking like a p*ssy. Shane says the crowd has never seen one. Shane says he guesses you are what you eat. Nigel says that makes Shane, "Lee Moriarty's @sshole". Lee asks Shane to let him have this as he wants it and needs it. Nigel says he doesn't need the judges out there as this is old school rules.

Lee offers a handshake. Nigel accepts. Nigel takes him down by the arm and hits some shots. Lee takes him down by the arm twice and armlocks him. Nigel snapmares him but Lee holds on. Lee uses one of three ropebreaks on accident. The ref makes them break on the ropes. Nigel prents that Lee punched him. Lee is charged a 2nd ropebreak for supposedly breaking the rules.

Shane Taylor gets on the mic and complains. He calls for a 2nd ref to come down. Lee takes him down and hits mounted shots. Nigel then hits mounted shots and goes for some holds. Nigel gets a 2 count on him and armwhips him down.

Nigel kneels on his back and armlocks him. Lee gets out and puts him in a border city stretch. Shane Taylor and Nige have words outside. Lee tries to attack Nigel from behind but nails Shane on accident. Lee avoids being counted out.

Nigel handstands in the corner and boots him. Nigel running euros him in the corner. Nigel goes to do something off the buckles and takes a euro. Lee belly to belly suplexes him. Lee is crotched up top and Nigel hits a towel of london cutter for 2. Nigel gets his back and armlocks him.

They trade pin attempts. Lee does a border city stretch. Nigel uses his 2nd ropebreak. Nigel handstands in the corner and takes a facekick. Lee does a border city stretch on him. Nigel uses his last ropebreak. Lee backrolls him and tries to hold onto the ropes but the 2nd ref Paul Turner stops him. Nigel backrolls Lee. Nigel hits a rebound lariat for 2.

Nigel is pulled into the 2nd buckle. Nigel hits a tower of london and thinks he has him pinned but Lee's foot is on the ropes. Lee uses his last ropebreak and neither has a ropebreak left. They trade euros.

Nigel hits a bunch of euros. Lee backslides him for 2 then armlocks him. Lee then does Nigel's rebound lariat for 2. Nigel is in the border city stretch and rolls him up for 2. Lee does a lifting ddt for 2. Lee does a border city stretch on him. Lee uses the ropes for leverage and submits him.

Thoughts: It was a good match here. Nigel used his tricks early on. Shane and Lee called for a 2nd ref and the 2nd ref ended up hurting both of them at times. They both ran out of ropebreaks which played into the finishing stretch as well. It was a random match with Nigel not earning his title shot but with him being an old ROH guy, it was fine. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did and I thought they did a good job here.

ROH World Tag Team Title Double Bullrope Match - The Sons Of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) (c) vs. The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent)

Sammy has his face painted like Dustin and both are wearing street fight gear.

The fight starts as the faces enter. Dutch's head is banged off the steps then Sammy corkscrew dives out on the heels. Dutch tope con hilos the faces. The bullropes still aren't on and Vincent refuses to put it on. Dustin punches and uppercuts Vincent.

Dutch takes a double suplex. Sammy standing moonsaults Dutch. Dustin running shinning wizards Dutch. Dustin ties himself to Dutch and Sammy ties himself to Vincent. The match then officially starts.
The four hockey fight. The faces do double shattered dreams to the heels. Vincent eye rakes and lariats Sammy. Vincent low flatliners Dustin. Dustin takes a senton + legdrop for 2. Sammy superkicks Vincent.  Dustin throws Dutch out. Dustin chairs Dutch outside. Vincent yanks Sammy's ribs into the ropes. Dustin chairs Dutch. Vincent back elbows Sammy. Vincent pounds on Sammy.

Sammy and Vincent crossbody each other at the same time. Dustin hits Dutch with a cowbell and Dutch black hole slams Dustin on the ramp. Dutch pulls out a barbed wire table. Dutch is knocked off the buckles and goes through the barbed wire table outside. Vincent kicks Dustin low. Sammy pounds on Vincent and Vincent hits a sliced bread off the rails. Vincent grabs scissors and frees himself of the bullrope. Vincent hits shots on Dustin. Vincent chokes Dustin around the post with the rope. Sammy saves Dustin.

Sammy superkicks Vincent then hits punches. Sammy plancha's Vincent outside. Sammy does a cutter off the rail. Sammy pulls out another table. Vincent is put on the table. Sammy climbs a ladder and misses a swanton off of it. Sammy ends up going through the table. Dustin gets offense in on Vincent and bulldogs him. Dustin is hit with a cowbell by Dutch and goes down. Dustin takes shots from both heels and gives them the finger. Vincent hits a sliced bread for 2. 

Sammy jumping knees Dutch then cutters him. Sammy crossbodies Vincent over the top rope. Dustin canadian destroyers Dutch. Sammy hits a GTH on Vincent outside. Dustin hits a cowbell shot on Dutch and pins him.

Thoughts: It was your usual hardcore match. We knew what this was going to be going into it and that's what it was. It was fine but not super memorable. No one seemed to have gotten hurt which was good. The Righteous lose yet again though it wasn't a big surprise.

ROH World Television Title Survival Of The Fittest Six Way Elimination Match - Brian Cage (c) vs. Willie Mack vs. AR Fox vs. Mark Davis vs. Komander  vs. Blake Christian

Cage wore christmas themed Juggalo Championship Wrestling gear out which I'm surprised they allowed. Cage gorilla presses AR out onto Kom and Blake early. AR does triple suicide dives out early. Kom top rope corkscrew moonsaults outside. Blake does a nice corkscrew tope outside. Kom goes for a rope walk, gets tripped and takes an apron spear. Blake spiral taps outside.

Cage germans Kom while he germans AR. Cage one arm gorilla presses Kom. Mack pop-up forearms Blake. Mack hits a double samoan drop on Kom and AR. Mack starts hitting stunners on everyone including a top rope stunner on Kom. Cage spinning lariats Mack and pins him. 

Kom goes for a tope and is ddt'd on the apron. AR springboard imploding 450's outside. AR walks up the buckles and seated spanish flies Kom. AR 450's Kom off the top for 2. Cage 2nd rope seated powerbombs AR and pins him. Cage and Mark trade germans. Kom springboard hurricanrana's Mark. Cage F-5's Kom and Blake. Mark enzugiri's Cage. Mark lariats Cage. Mark piledrivers Cage and pins him.

Blake rolls up Mark out of nowhere and pins him. Blake and Kom are the last two. They trade forearms. Kom 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Blake backbreakers him and enzugiri's him. Blake germans him then top rope dropkicks Kom. Kom gets on his back and cobra twists him. Kom is pushed off the top to the outside.

Blake topes Kom under the 2nd buckle. They trade superkicks. Kom dropkicks him off a handspring. Blake standing spanish flies him for 2. Kom walks up the buckles and poisorana's Blake off of them. Kom rope walk corkscrew dives Blake outside.

Kom goes to rope walk and Blake kicks the ref into him. Blake walks up Kom's back and curbstomps him for 2. Blake twisting backdrops Kom off the 2nd rope. Kom springboard canadian destroyers Blake. Kom 619's Blake. Kom rope walk ssp's him and pins him.

Thoughts: It got a lot of time and was what you would think it would be. It was a spotty match all throughout with usually only 2 people in the ring at most times. There were lots of impressive spots of course but not a ton of selling or logic. I figure Kom won here as a thank you for all the losses he has eaten and for being AEW's one reliable luchador who is able to actually show up anytime they want.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Sho do a video. They say they will be the next challengers for the ROH Tag Titles at Wrestle Dynasty.

ROH World Title Match - Chris Jericho (c) vs. Matt Cardona

Matt earned this shot by never competing in this version of ROH. Matt enters from the street. I'd say a guy wearing wrestling gear outside would be weird in most places, but that's probably a normal day in NYC. It was a creative entrance though. Chris Jericho has The Rocketts out with him and Bryan Keith. CJ comes out to New York, New York and wears a statue of liberty thing on his head.

CJ gives him the finger on a handshake attempt. Matt hits a leg lariat to start for 2. Matt hits mounted punches. CJ's head is banged off the buckles and Matt knee chokes him in the corner. Matt tope con hilos CJ and Bryan Keith outside. Matt's dad piefaces CJ lightly outside then Matt sends CJ into the steps.

CJ's head is banged off the steps. Matt whips CJ with the ROH Title. Bryan Keith tries to stop him and gets hit. CJ is back body dropped onto Bryan. Matt dropkicks both through the ropes. Matt is back body dropped on the ramp. CJ hits mounted shots on Matt then hits chops. Matt hits forearms and is sent chest first into the buckles. CJ baseball slides him. Keither stomps on Matt outside. CJ leg lariats him on the ropes. CJ catapult's Matt's neck into the bottom rope. Keith stands on Matt outside.

CJ yell at Matt's parents and piefaces his dad. CJ pushes Matt into the steps. CJ then grabs a camera and films himself kicking Matt. CJ backdrops Matt on the steps. Matt is sent into the post. CJ boots Matt in the face lightly. 

They trade chops for forearms. CJ hits mounted corner punches on Matt then top rope hurricanrana's him. Matt op rope dropkicks him for 2. CJ lionsaults Matt for 2. Matt spinebusters CJ for 2. They fight on the top rope. CJ superplexes him. Matt tiger drivers him for 2. CJ codebreakers him for 2. They crossbody each other at the same time then boot each other down at the same time.

CJ crabs Matt. Matt cradles him for 2. Matt pushes CJ into Bryan Keith on the apron. CJ blocks a leg lariat then he crabs him. Big Bill comes out and facekicks Matt as he hangs over the apron. Matt codebreakers him. Matt top rope leg lariats CJ but Big Bill gets on the apron.

Bryan Keith hits Matt with the title belt. CJ then gets the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't that great as expected and had tons of shenanigans. It was a pretty average match if we are being honest. I didn't think the logic was that good here as Matt attacked the heels first and Matt's dad also attacked the heels first. Then we were supposed to boo the heels when they gave it back to them.

Bill and Keith stomp on Matt after. Bandido comes out to make the save for some reason. He top rope dropkicks CJ and seems to have hurt himself. Bandido spinebusters Bryan Keith and kicks Bill in the crotch on accident. I think more was supposed to happen but Bill walks off hobbling in pain.

ROH Women's World Title Match - Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz

Athena wore a Two-Face costume out. They shake hands and neither let go. Ath clubs on her and bangs her head off the buckles. Ath hip throws her. BS hits forearms then hair throws her. BS hits chops and forearms. BS dropkicks her. Ath forward cartwheel forearms her in the corner. BS pump kicks her.

BS goes for an up and over but gets kicked. Ath rolling death valley drivers her and axe kicks her back. Ath hits knees to the face. Ath running back elbows her. Ath flips out of a hiptoss. BS cartwheels out of a move and hits lariats. BS kicks her from the buckles.

Ath blocks a spinning high kick with a stretch muffler. Ath one arm powerbombs her. Ath works her leg. Ath kicks BS in the leg. BS hangs from the 2nd rope by the leg and Ath kicks her in it. BS is on the apron and Ath pulls her down so she lands on the floor. Ath yells at BS' mother and says this is for her. Ath misses a charge into the steps. 

VS gets her head banged off the steps. Ath pop-up powerbombs BS on the floor. Ath stomps on her in the ring for 2. Ath is pulled into the post. BS ddt's her over the 2nd rope. BS lariats her then knees her. BS jumping double knee presses her. BS hits a twisting neckbreaker for 2. BS boots Ath in the face. Ath up kicks her then takes oblivion for 2. BS is up top and gets kicked. Ath 2nd rope fallaway slams her for 2. Ath hits kicks on BS then corner forearms her. Ath springboard twisting crossbodies her. Ath twists her off her shoulder into a ripcord codebreaker. 

BS blocks an o-face then hits a german. Ath backdrops her. BS facekicks her. Ath forearms her. BS spin kicks her and takes a forearm. BS tombstones her. They fight on the apron. BS goes into the turnbuckle connector.

BS alabama slams her on the apron. BS 2nd rope swantons her on the floor. BS hits a piledriver for 2. Ath picks her up like a suplex and throws her out to the floor. Ath then topes her and the ref at the same time. Lexi Nair hands Athen a microphone. BS blocks a shot with it. BS electric chair drivers her for 2. Ath grabs the middle buckle and poisonrana's BS. BS is tripped into the exposed 2nd buckle then Ath hits a top rope o-face to win.

Thoughts: It got a lot of time. I thought they did too much here with electric chair drivers, pop-up powerbombs on the floor and alabama slams on the apron. They didn't really lean that much into the friend vs friend storyline much and worked this one like they would anything else. I really don't understand why Athena got the win here. There's no one really left for her to fight and the only person it really serves is Athena....who is on a show that probably less than 1,000 people see anyway.

Overall thoughts: It was a long show and that's ignoring the pre-show which had 4 more matches on it. I didn't like the top 3 matches that much or QT/Jay. Nigel/Moriarty was my favorite thing on here. The bullrope match was okay as well. I was surprised Mark Briscoe was not on this one. It had the usual random matches with no build that ROH usually offers and I don't think it was their best work. It wasn't awful though. I'd give this one a 5 out of 10 and I wouldn't recommend it.