Ring of Honor Final Battle 2020 Quick Takes

ROH Tag Team Championship: Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Briscoe and PCO

This was a really fun opening match. I really wasn’t sure what I was expecting at first but I ended up really enjoying this and it really helped to establish the Foundation as a credible faction as well as establishing Gresham as the new workhorse of ROH. This would be hist first of two championship matches. This match was built up as the pure wrestlers wanting to actually have a traditional match against the brawlers. PCO did what PCO does, taking some truly psychotic dives including ring apron senton. Mark Briscoe took some insane risks of his own. Even the Foundation took to the air a few times. Lethal was able to get PCO up for a Doomsday Device and Grisham connected with a very nice Shooting Star Press. In the end, the champions are able to retain after a miscommunication between the challengers results in Gresham rolling up PCO for the three count.

Dalton Castle vs. Rey Horus

The first substitution of the night due to the pandemic. This was thrown together for lack of a better phrase but this was fine. Castle establishes the power advantage early on but simply can’t keep up with the luchador. Rey gets the win with a really cool top rope driver that Ian Riccaboni refers to as a “Tornado Driver.” I have no idea what this is really called so I’m gonna go with that. After the match, Dalton shows visible frustration after losing to the smaller competitor.

The Righteous vs. Mike Bennett and Matt Taven

On paper, this was the match I was probably most excited about. Bateman and Vincent have been one of my favorite acts in ROH at the moment and the rivalry with Taven did something that I didn’t know was possible…really care about Matt Taven. Seeing Mike Bennett back in ROH really does my heart good, though as you can tell he’s having fun wrestling again. This was a grudge match. Both teams looked like they were trying to take out the other. This was not a wrestling match, this was a fight and I dug it. The Original Kingdom win after Bennet and Taven hit Bateman with a cool backpack stunner/shining wizard combo. Afterward, Vita Von Starr low blows the winners and chokes out Taven with her legs after Matt got zip-tied to the ropes by Vincent. Bateman slid a wood block between Bennett’s legs. Vincent takes a chair and smashes Mike’s leg against the block…Misery stye.

Danhausen vs. Brian Johnson- If Danhausen wins, he gets an ROH contract

There’s not a lot here. If you like the Danhausen character (I do) this was kind of fun. If you don’t, then you’re not going to like this. Brian Johnson kept cutting promos mid-match, making fun of Danhausen fans and wrestling nerds in general. I did catch myself laughing at this more than once. Danhausen hit all of his normal spots, including the jar of teeth and the Tequila kick. There were A LOT of shenanigans here. There was the obligatory ref bump and a unique spin on the Eddie Guerrero cheating spot. Danhausen picks up the mic and smears his face paint on it and then acts like he was hit. Johnson gets disqualified and Danhausen gets a job.

ROH TV Title-Dragon Lee (c) vs. Tony Deppen

Honestly, this could have headlined the King of Indies tournament. Tony Deppen has been a highlight for me during this pandemic era of wrestling and I’m glad to see him get a spot on one of ROH’s biggest shows of the year. Hopefully, he gets a full-time spot after this. The match itself was great. I’m a sucker for style battles and I really liked the dynamic of lucha libre against the more ground and pound style. This was a battle of near falls. There were a TON here on both sides. They even played into the finish. Somehow, Deppen was able to kick out of a poison rana AND a running knee for a two count. Dragon Lee gets frustrated and nails Tony with another knee for the win.

Jay Briscoe vs. Shane Taylor

This was another substitution match on the card as both men had their original opponents ruled as unable to compete. This was a straight-up brawl. Taylor looks like he has cut a lot of weight lately and looks great. Briscoe and Taylor take turns trying to out muscle each other. Shane hit Jay with a particularly gnarly DVD. Briscoe tried to put Taylor to sleep but, the big man was able to get his hand up before the ref could count to three. Briscoe eventually goes for his finish but it gets blocked. Jay tries for his neckbreaker but only gets a two count. Taylor is able to answer back with a popup powerbomb for a two count but then hits Welcome to the Land. Shane Taylor gets a big win against an ROH mainstay.

ROH Pure Championship-Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Flip Gordon

I was really curious about this one. I wanted to see how Flip would do with the pure wrestling format. This was way better than I expected. Flip burns his three rope breaks fairly early on so it helped to create an elevated sense of drama due to Flip having to be more careful with how he worked. Gresham continued to show why he is the face of the pure wrestling division with some fantastic grappling. Flip was able to hold his own though which was genuinely surprising. The Octopus retains the title after a series of forearm shots led to ref stoppage.

ROH World Championship-Rush (c) vs. Brody King

This was a heck of a main event. Brody King is another guy that I’ve followed for a long time and here he is main eventing a major PPV. King got show off a little bit of everything here with some solid brawling, a good power game, and even some brutal dives. Rush played his heel role well by taking more than a few liberties with the rules, even choking his opponent with a production cable and later whipping him with it. Brody was able to fight through though, landing a Sidewalk Slam for a near fall. Rush tries to go for his finish but King is able to rebound and answer with a big clothesline. Brody tries for the Gonzo Bomb but lets go when Dragon Lee causes a distraction. Rush and Lee’s father, La Bestia del Ring takes advantage of this and hits King with a chair. Rush is then able to hit his running corner kick for the win. Once the match is over, Jonathan Gresham and the rest of The Foundation look on from the ramp and look at La Faccion Ingobernable with absolute disgust over what they’ve just seen.

Final Thoughts

1. ROH did a great job of not only being able to switch up some matches due to the pandemic but also being completely transparent as to why this was happening.

2. I loved that the Pure Championship match ended with a referee stoppage. It gave the match a sense of realism and did not see the match ending this way.

3. Jonathan Gresham was the MVP of the night. Being in two high profile matches on the same show and ending the event shows that there are hopefully big plans for the Octopus and the Foundation.

4. It’s been an odd year for Ring of Honor but this show was a nice balance of ROH icons and young stars that should make some big plays in 2021.

#prowrestling #ROH #RIngofHonor #wrestling #FInalBattle