Review: Ring of Honor “Final Battle” 2013

Match Results

Matt Hardy is here to kick off Final Battle, and wants a microphone. The crowd gives him so much heat, Hardy decides not to talk, which elicits a huge "YES!" chant. He throws his shirt into the crowd, and after a big "throw it back" chant, the fan obliges and the first match of the night is underway. 

Matt Hardy def. Adam Page || **3/4

Page slaps Hardy across the face to pop the crowd and wins a lock-up, but Matt dumps him hard to the outside, crashing his knee into the floor. Hardy teases a suicide dive, but stops short and simply walks out of the ring. He removes a section of the padding on the floor and the two brawl on the floor, teasing a Side Effect. Page shoves Hardy to the floor and comes off the apron with a shooting star press! Page gets two off a pin attempt. Hardy comes back and locks in a sleeper hold; Adam counters into a sleeper of his own, but Matt hits the Side Effect. Hardy with another Side Effect for a two-count. He motions (it's more of a dance, really) for the Twist of Fate, but Page catches him with a bridge for a near-fall. Hardy off the ropes and Adam connects with a spinning wheel kick. Matt tries for a third Side Effect, but Adam Page counters into a roll-up for a very close near-fall. Page up to the top rope, crossbody attempt, but Hardy dodges out of the way and hits a Twist of Fate for the win. 

Pre-recorded promo from Mark Briscoe, calling Silas Young a liar for calling himself the "last real man". He takes off his belt and pretends to beat Silas with it; Mark Briscoe is straight-up bat shit crazy. 

Strap Match

Silas Young def. Mark Briscoe || ***

Mark uses the leather strap early in the match, brawling to the outside and using it to choke his opponent. Silas gets thrown hard off the barricade, but he jumps out of the way at the last minute and Briscoe goes flying into the rails. Young now goes on the offensive, running the length of the outside area and using the momentum the strap provides to whip Mark into the barricade over and over again. Young touches two corners, but Briscoe is back to his feat and takes him down with a back suplex, followed by a vertical suplex. Mark hits some Redneck Kung Fu by request from the fans, but Silas uses the strap to flip him on his head. Young abuses his opponent's back several times with the leather, but Briscoe shrugs it off and comes back with right hands. The fight to the apron and Young hits Mark with a DDT on the floor, but realizes he needs him in the ring to touch the corners. He starts tying Briscoe up by the legs, dragging him around the ring touching three corners, but Mark recovers in time to break the count. Briscoe with several wallops from the strap, echoing around the Ballroom, before hitting the Death Valley Driver. He goes up to the top and hits the Froggie-bow, but can't win this with a pin. Briscoe touches two corners, then a third, but Young dives out of the ring to stop the fourth. Silas is in control now, as he throws Mark hard into the floor. He hoists his opponent up on his shoulders and touches all four corners to win; Briscoe was touching the corners behind him, but it wasn't quite enough. 

The Young Bucks def. Adrenaline Rush || ***3/4

ACH wins a lock-up against one of the Young Bucks, before giving the other some crotch chops. The Bucks score with a double team head-scissors-kick combo that sends TD to the barricade. It looks like Thomas may have hurt his shoulder, and the Bucks hammer away on it immediately, alternating tags to stay fresh. The mind games set in, as the heels start showboating with a double back-flip into a simple rake of the back, as ACH is furious on the apron. TD ducks under a clothesline and hits a capoeira kick, finally making the tag to ACH who comes in hot with a dropkick to Matt Jackson. Matt gets tossed to the outside and ACH dropkicks Nick off the apron as well. He picks up a suicide dive to one of the Bucks, and hits the ring briefly before diving onto the other. Nick recovers and tries to dropkick ACH, but accidentally hits his brother, as TD comes off the top rope to take them both out, bad shoulder and all. ACH with a great roll-through pin attempt, but he gets caught with a superkick, followed by another to TD, and a third for ACH as the Superkick Party begins. The Bucks call their finish on ACH and put him down with a sick running knee-to-sliced bread-to-running knee combo for a very close two-count. TD recovers and sends Nick Jackson's face off the apron, as Adrenaline Rush hits a big boot and Death Valley Driver double team for a count of two. ACH with a springboard frog splash, but one of the Bucks gets his knees up, and he runs into a superkick from the other. Thomas takes a turnbuckle powerbomb, plus a side kick from Nick Jackson. He holds onto the ropes, clinging for life, but Matt double stops his hands; ouch! The Bucks with the co-op Tombstone Piledriver on TD, but ACH hits the ring at the last minute to break up the pin. The Bucks try for stereo superkicks, but ACH catches them both with a hurricanrana to the floor. He goes suicide diver, but they superkick him out of the air to a huge "holy shit' chant. "More Bang for Your Buck" connects for the 1-2-3 on Tadarius Thomas. 

While the Young Bucks got a huge babyface reaction throughout the entire match, Adrenaline Rush stayed in the ring afterwards and got a great reaction, including a "that was awesome" chant. 

Stretcher Match – Loser Must Stop Using the Piledriver

Kevin Steen def. Michael Bennett || ****

Steen kicks off the match with a big splash in the corner, followed up by a cannonball. Bennett gets tossed into the barricade, and is already cut on the back of his head. Mike comes back with a flurry of right hands, but Steen ducks under a clothesline and crotches his opponent into the steel ring post. The crowd chants "one more time", so he gives it to them. Steen grabs a headset and announces that Hammerstein has been renamed the "Hammer-Steen". Bennett gets his junk tossed into a post for the third time, and jokes are made at Maria's expense. Steen goes to the well a fourth time and is met with a "no more babies" chant. Kevin takes the ring announcer's chair, followed by Kevin Kelly's chair, and finally Nigel's chair. Bennett recovers and takes a chair, slamming it across his opponent's back again and again, with Maria screaming directions from the outside. Mike goes for another chair shot, but Steen gets a hold of it and hits a Codebreaker. A cannonball connects with the chair giving an assist, and Bennett looks out cold. Steen tries for the Package Piledriver, but Bennett turns it into a Fireman's Carry Driver. Mike now teases a piledriver, but Steen counters out into a powerbomb, followed by the package piledriver. Kevin puts Bennett on the gurney as two security guards carry him up the ramp, but instead Steen hits a senton over the ropes and crashes through his opponent. Steen then picks up the stretches, smashing it against the post, before bringing it up the ramp and tossing it to the back, signaling that this match isn't going to end. He grabs a microphone and says "I'm just going to beat him until he can't stand up no more!" Steen gets back into the ring, only to get caught with a low blow. Bennett picks up a chair and pounds away into the mid-section of his opponent, taunting the crowd. Mike introduces a table from under the ring, to the first round of applause he's ever had from an ROH crowd, and now we get a second table; there's streamers everywhere, as they were under the ring. Bennett brings Steen to the apron and teases a piledriver, but Steen counters and teases one of his own. They brawl on the apron until Bennett hits a Side Effect (which I believe he calls the "Box Office Smash") through both tables. After several moments, they both roll back into the ring and Bennett hits a piledriver. He calls out for a stretcher, but nobody has any clue what to do. Instead, he sets up a chair as the crowd breaks out into an "Ole!" chant, shades of Final Battle 2012. Bennett sets up for another piledriver, but Steen counters and hits a massive Brainbuster through the chair! Steen looks to end the match with another Package Piledriver, but Maria gets in the ring. Instead, Steen hits the the "Stone Cold" Stunner, throws Maria from the ring, and nails the Package Piledriver. Apparently this match isn't over yet though, as Kevin sets up three chairs in the ring, bringing Bennett up on top of them, and absolutely killing him with a Package Piledriver through the stack. The referee calls for the bell and this one is over. 

After the match, medics help Michael Bennett to the back, and Maria Kanellis rushes the ring to slap Kevin Steen in the face. Steen holds down the ropes to let her go, but changes his mind and hits Maria with the Package Piledriver. A dozen officials and referees hit the ring to check on her, as Steen screams "Merry Christmas Bitch!" into a microphone. 

Ring of Honor talent scount Prince Nana comes down to the ring and says "RIP" to his brother, Nelson Mandela. He talks about the Top Prospect tournament coming up in 2014, and signing Outlaw, Inc. to contracts. He gets cut off by the tag team champions. Bobby Fish says he wants some of whatever Nana is smoking. Nana shoves Kyle, and the champs hit him with Chasing the Dragon. 

ROH World Tag Team Championship Match

reDRagon (c) vs. Outlaw, Inc. || **

Kingston and Homicide come from out of the crowd and attack Fish, followed by Kyle. Homicide with a backslide for one, and in comes Eddie Kingston for chops in the corner. Homicide with a baseball slide into the champ, followed by a butterfly suplex. A brawl breaks out on the floor as O'Reilly hits a kick to the side of the head on Kingston, before diving off the apron with a missile dropkick into the barricade. In comes Bobby Fish, and the champions are suddenly in control; the commentary team has gotten completely distracted. Fish with hard kicks to Eddie, as the referee keeps Homicide from getting involved. Kingston fires back on the champs with right hands, but while the ref is distracted, Kyle drops Eddie and crotches him on the ring post. O'Reilly runs around the ring and knocks Homicide off the apron, as Fish continues to pick apart Kingston in the ring with powerslams. The crowd is not into this match. Kingston comes back with a swinging neckbreaker, but the champs play the double team game and cut him off from his partner. Finally Homicide gets a hot tag, kicking Fish in the face and hitting him with a monkey flip. He hits a lariat for a two-count, as Kyle accidentally knee drops his own partner. Homicide hits an inverted crucifix powerbomb on Bobby Fish, and the challengers hit stereo suicide dives through the ropes, taking out both of the champions. Kingston is back in the ring as the legal man, and hits the Three Amigos. They brawl up to the top turnbuckle, with Eddie catches Fish in an Atomic Drop. Kyle dropkicks Homicide off the apron, and the champs hit a tilt-the-whirl backbreaker and knee drop combo for a close two-count. Homicide gets back into the ring and hits an Ace Crusher. The referee takes a bump, and both teams are in the ring at the same time. A loud "end this match" chant breaks out, as Homicide tries for the Gringo Killer; a title belt gets thrown in the ring with distracts the referee. ReDRragon hits Chasing the Dragon with a steel chair to pick up the 1-2-3. 

The tag team champions argue with some fans as they leave the ring and head to the back. Outlaw, Inc get to their feet, and Homicide breaks the fingers of some random ring attendant. He hits him with the Gringo Killer, as Kingston tells the crowd they "tried to play by their rules". Some fan throws trash at Eddie Kingston, and the two go into the crowd and get in the face of a few fans. Homicide tosses a trash can into the ring as the fans chant for them to leave. Brutal. 

ROH World TV Championship Match

Tommaso Ciampa def. Matt Taven (c) || ***

Taven is dancing with his Hoopla Hotties on the ring apron, and Ciampa decides to hit him with a huge release suplex into the ring. Ciampa throws him to the floor and off the barricade, and then back into the ring. The girls cause a distraction, allowing Taven to hit a big boot; he's still got streamers attached to him. The champ talks to the referee as Truth Martini and the entourage beat down on the challenger for a few seconds. Taven goes flying over the top rope, taking out Ciampa with a crossbody. Tommaso recovers, and has literally broken a part of the barricade throwing Taven off it. Seeing the metal on the floor, Ciampa hits the Kryptonite Krush and rolls the champ back into the ring. One of the girls tries to shield Taven, so Ciampa hits her with a running knee. The other girl hits the ring, and gets hit with Project Ciampa. Taven comes off the top rope with a frog splash, but Ciampa reverses it into crossface and picks up the submission victory to become the new ROH World TV Champion! 

Nigel McGuinness comes down to the ring to intruduce the mystery partner for Eddie Edward's farewell match. He said it was a guy who never had a final match, and never got to go out on his own terms. He introduces Eddie's tag partner…BJ Whitmer! 

Eddie Edwards & BJ Whitmer def. Jay Lethal & Roderick Strong || ***3/4

Whitmer locks up with Lethal to start the match, taking him down with an armdrag. In comes Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards, and the Dojo Bros lock up. Lots of clean tags made, with four babyfaces in the ring. Lethal back in, and he lays in with knife-edge chops and a standing dropkick. Lethal Injection attempt, but Whitmer rolls into an armdrag. Strong makes a tag and attacks Whitmer with chops in his corner, quick tags keeping him from alternating out. Lethal starts to show some edge with a few kicks to BJ's injured neck. Whitmer with a snap powerslam, but Strong attacks before Edwards can get involved. The crowd gets Whitmer back into the match, and finally Eddie Edwards tags in with a head of steam, kicking Strong off the apron and going to work on Lethal with a dozen chops in the corner. Lethal hits a kick out of the corner, but Edwards hoists him up on his back and drops down with a stunner. Lethal Combination out of nowhere for a two-count. Whitmer gets knocked off the apron, almost going through the time-keeper's table. Strong and Edwards trade kicks, with Roderick hitting a backbreaker; BJ breaks up the pin at two. Knife-edge chops are flying around the ring, and Strong runs into superkicks from both of his opponents for a close count. Eddie and Lethal hit stereo suicide dives onto their respective opponents, twice, followed by the Lethal Injection on Edwards. Everyone is down. After a few moments, Lethal superkicks Whitmer as Strong hits a superplex on Eddie; Lethal follows up with Hail to the King for a two-count. BJ Whitmer is back in the ring with a vertical suplex, followed by a top rope double stop from Edwards. The Dojo Bros come face to face in the ring, getting in each other's face, and test each other with chops. Whitmer and Lethal are fighting on the floor while this is happening. Strong breaks the chop contest with a running high knee and fires away with elbows. He hits the Gibson Driver and applies the Strong Hold, but Eddie escapes. The Sick Kick connects, but out of nowhere Edwards rolls up Strong for the 1-2-3. 

After the match, the fans erupt into a giant "we will miss you" chant, and all four guys shake hands and hug it out. Jay Lethal gets on the mic and gives Eddie Edwards his respect, before leaving the ring and heading to the back. Edwards puts over Lethal, before thanking Cary Silken and shaking his hand. He thanks the fans for braving the weather and coming out for Final Battle to be there for his last match in ROH. Eddie thanks BJ Whitmer and says he's sorry that his career got cut short. The two embrace, but BJ says his career is just getting started, before Strong knees him in the face. Jimmy Jacobs rushes the ring and says that he can't stand that fans want to applaud people leaving their company high and dry. He says he's seen Eddie come and go, but the more things change, the more the "Decades" remain the same. Jacobs bleeds Eddie with his spike, and he celebrates with BJ Whitmer and Roderick Strong. 

ROH World Championship Match

Adam Cole (c) def. Jay Briscoe, Michael Elgin || ****1/4

Adam Cole bails from the ring immediately, and he's going to let his opponents lock up without him. Briscoe and Elgin try to take each other down with shoulder tackles, and Cole trips up Elgin before running away yet again. Jay starts in with closed-fist punches, but dives to the outside and brings the champion into the match the hard way. Elign and Briscoe take turns beating down on Cole, tossing him across the ring with a big hip arm drag. Cole tries to escape again, but both of them run to the outside and Briscoe almost kicks a fan in the face trying to attack the champ. The challengers take turns besting each other, before Elgin has enough and kicks Briscoe in the head, picking up a one-count on Cole in the ring. Adam Cole is just taking a beating, as he hasn't had a single move of offense in the entire match. Briscoe is dumped to the apron, and Cole comes back to life, diving out to the floor and hitting him with a DDT off the apron. He hits the ring, but is met with a Black Hole Slam from Michael Elgin. Elgin now with brutal rights, lefts, chops and elbows accompanied by a dropkick. They fight up to the top turnbuckle, but Jay Briscoe comes in from behind and puts Elgin on his shoulders. Elgin escapes and crotches Cole on the top rope; Briscoe hits a Mic Check into the second turnbuckle. Elgin powerslams Briscoe and uses Adam Cole to leg drop him, before applying a Boston Crab and Camel Clutch on both guys! Elgin and Cole fight up to the top again, and this time both the challengers toss the champ across the ring with a double superplex. Briscoe with a superkick to Elgin; superkick to Adam. Elgin kicks Cole in the face and hits him with a fall-away slam for a close two-count. Briscoe tries for the Jay Driver on Elgin but settles for a Death Valley Driver. Cole comes back and takes out Jay with a neckbreaker, and hooks in the Figure Four. With the hold still locked in, Elgin hits a massive senton off the top rope coming down on both men's legs. Elgin Bomb attempt, but Cole turns it into a neckbreaker. Elgin catches Cole from the top and Buckle Bombs him into Jay Briscoe. A running lariat turns the champ inside-out, and Elgin covers Briscoe for two. All three men are out to the floor, and Elgin gets a little help from Briscoe, giving Cole a double chokeslam through the time-keeper's table. The two challengers head back to the ring and lock up, essentially starting this thing over one-on-one. They trade power for power, right hand for right hand, with neither gaining a major advantage. Elgin with a piledriver attempt, but Briscoe body drops him to counter out. A neckbreaker from Jay picks up a near-fall as we approach the 25-minute mark. Elgin hits the Northern Lights Suplex for a two-count. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino clear from the announce table as the two fight out to the apron. Briscoe locks in a sleeper hold, but Elgin just lets himself fall backwards sending both men through the table. Suddenly Adam Cole is back in the ring, and he demands the referee start counting. The ref gets to a count of 15, but Cole stops him and gets in his face. Matt Hardy runs out to ringside and hits the Twist of Fate on Jay Briscoe. Michael Elgin gets in the ring, eats a superkick and Cole hits a Twist of Fate for an extremely close two-count! Cole locks in a rear naked choke, but Elgin powers up to his feet. Mark Briscoe rushes the ring and the Briscoes attack Matt Hardy. Adam Cole tries for the Florida Key, but Elgin powerbombs him out of the ring and onto all three guys on the floor. The big man clears all three ropes, taking out Cole and Jay Briscoe. The crowd starts chanting behind Michael Elgin, who is back to his feet. Jay counters out of the Elgin Bomb and hits the Jay Driller on Elgin for two-and-a-half. Jay Driller number two connects, but somehow Elgin will not stay down. Hardy and Mark Briscoe are still brawling on the floor. Adam Cole superkicks Elgin, superkicks Briscoe and rolls up Michael for the 1-2-3. 

After the match, Matt Hardy destroys Jay Briscoe with his custom ROH title belt, and then does the same to Mark Briscoe. Adam Cole takes his title upside Michael Elgin's head, but the big guy blocks it and tries for the Elgin Bomb. Matt Hardy hits Elgin with a Twist of Fate. 

As the champion and Matt Hardy celebrate, Chris Hero jumps the barricade and hits Hardy with a rolling elbow. Cole gets a superkick, Hero puts on the golden elbow pad, and hits the champ with a rolling elbow. Chris Hero gets on the mic and tells Cole, Hardy and Ring of Honor that his back. 

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