After thinking about my last review I have decided to change the format of this review. This will be a spoiler free review for anyone who hasn’t seen the results of this show already. If you want to see the results you can scroll to the end of the review in order to find them in the Spoilers section. Before we get to the review I’d like to suggest a few articles. First of all I would recommend John Wiswell’s article on Eddie Kingston’s arrival in ROH. I would also suggest Pulse Glazer’s article on how to rebrand ECW as a Cruiserweight themed show. Lastly, I’ve chosen to highlight Pulse Wrestling’s
Top 100 Wrestlers of the Modern Era, an ongoing feature that is currently at number 44.
Final Battle is an annual ROH event, acting as the last ROH event of the calendar year. For ROH 2006 was the year of the inter promotional war with CZW, a year that marked long title reigns for all three titles and the unification of the ROH World and Pure titles. The biggest storyline of the second half of ROH was Homicides quest for the World title. After losing in controversial fashion at Destiny, Homicide had stated that he would leave ROH if he did not hold ROH gold by 2006. Homicide had fought his way past the roadblocks set up by ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette, roadblocks like The Briscoes, Adam Pearce and Steve Corino. Now the only thing standing between him and the ROH title was Bryan Danielson, a man who had held the ROH title for 15 months. Both wrestlers knew each other intimately after a 5 match series in 2005 and both had Shoulder injuries. With his last chance at ROH gold, in his home town of New York, would Homicide succeed, or would he fail and be forced to leave ROH forever?
Final Battle 2006 – 12/23/06, Manhattan, NY
Final Battle 2006 started with Homicide and Danielson entering the Manhattan Centre in silence, fully focused on the upcoming World title match.
In the ring, Bobby Cruise welcomed everyone to Final Battle 2006 before Santa Claus and his elves came out. Santa and his elves were in fact three of the ROH students. This was not well received until the students started throwing ROH merchandise into the crowd. The Briscoes then came to the ring and proceeded to demolish the students, giving Santa the stiffest looking chair shot he’s ever received. The Briscoes then challenged the Kings of Wrestling to a rematch after losing to the Kings of Wrestling the night before at International Challenge. The Briscoes lost that match due to interference from the debuting “Sweet and Sour†Larry Sweeney.
Backstage, Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo about loneliness and his love for Lacey, explaining his intense hatred for Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer. This was the beginning of a darker turn for Jacobs as he began to become more obsessed with hurting Cabana and Whitmer. This foreshadowed his character arc for 2007 (his belief that his love for Lacey would save him from depression, only to realise that it does not) and showed that Jacobs can cut good, intense backstage promos. This was a good length promo as Jacobs promos in 2007 tended to go on for longer then they needed to.
Match 1: Four Corner Survival
El Generico vs. Jimmy Rave vs. El Generico vs. Christopher Daniels (with Allison Danger).
El Generico had only appeared once before in 2006 for ROH so he desperately needed to impress to improve his chances of coming back. Jimmy Rave was on fire in the last two months of 2006 after developing his Heel Hook submission, using it to make both BJ Whitmer and Nigel McGuinness tap. Rave was looking for a title shot while engaging in a battle for respect with McGuinness Richards had made his ROH début against Rave and was looking to end 2006 on a high, as was ROH Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels.
This was a good opener that helped get the crowd going. First off I would like to mention how much I feel that Rave and Genericos’s entrance music adds to the feel of each wrestler. It really suits them and gives a helps to give a different vibe to each guy which helps to differentiate them from the rest of the roster. What made this match stand out from previous Four corner Survivals was Jimmy Rave. Rave was at his most opportunistic, and you HATED him for it. He was constantly infuriating the fans with his tactics as he looked to use the others to do his dirty work for him. El Generico was very over, using his selling to make the other wrestlers look good, none more so then Richards. While he got himself over with his charisma and moves, it was his unique brand of over the top selling that impressed me the most. Daniels wrestled how he had done during his last six months in ROH, competently but without that feel of spontaneity and excitement that can turn a solid wrestler into an entertaining one. Richards exhibited his kicks and explosive offence while also showing that he can sell quite well.
A post match promo by Rave led to Nigel McGuinness coming out. Rave attempted to blind side McGuinness but it failed and Rave was forced to leave the ring. This was a nice, quick segment which built the tensions between the two wrestlers.
Match 2: Adam Pearce (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Ricky Reyes (with Julius Smokes).
Adam Pearce had spent the first half of 2006 helping ROH in the feud with CZW. This was later revealed to have been motivated by Pearce’s desire to become Jim Cornette’s right hand man. In this role he spent most of the later months of 2006 trying to prevent Homicide from getting his title shot at Final Battle. Pearce came out and cut a promo on how Homicide would not become ROH World Champion. This leads to Homicide’s corner man Julius Smokes coming out with Rottweilers member Ricky Reyes in tow. This leads to a match between Pearce and Reyes.
Adam Pearce can be a good, old school heel when he has an opponent who knows how to get the fans behind him. Unfortunately, I found it hard to root for Reyes since he just didn’t exert any charisma and his spots were too disjointed. If the match was a fast paced sprint with loads of spots I wouldn’t have minded as much but a match like this needs to get the crowd involved to help it along. This didn’t happen and as such this was the worst match on the card.
After the match Pearce and Hagadorn hit a Spike Piledriver on Smokes, causing the referees to come out and carry him to the back. This means that Homicide would have to face Danielson without his Corner man watching his back.
Match 3: Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright vs. Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer (with Daizee Haze).
Jimmy Jacobs is infatuated with his manager Lacey. She used this to get him to attack Whitmer when he turned his back on her managerial services. Later in the year Jacobs walked in on Lacey and Cabana having sex in the shower room. Cabana later spurned a contract offer from Lacey and Jacobs used this as his chance to attacked the man who “defiled the woman he loved.†Jacobs had been feuding with both these wrestlers for months and this was a chance for him to get vengeance on them after Lacey was accidentally stabbed in the face during the main event of The Chicago Spectacular Night 2. Lacey had hired Albright as Jacobs partner.
This was a decent match as it had a clear story which was derived from the story lines between Jacobs, Whitmer and Albright. The faces spent all their energy on isolating Jacobs in order to punish him as much as possible, frequently looking to put Jacobs through a table. Jacobs was obsessed with hurting his enemies as much as he could and Albright was frequently saving Jacobs in order to ensure that he got paid. Cabana and Whitmer work fairly well as a team as Cabana is a fun hot tag due to his charisma. The finish was great and the match was an enjoyable one that helped to build the feud between Jacobs and the two faces. It got a little dull in the middle stretches but the story and the finish made up for it.
Match 4: Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli (with Larry Sweeney) vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe.
Hero and Castagnoli, the Kings of Wrestling, held Tag Team gold in Chikara, CZW and ROH in 2006. Both wrestlers represented CZW during the ROH-CZW feud that dominated the first half of 2006. They lost the ROH tag titles to Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal at Dethroned and Castagnoli was scheduled to join the WWE in 2007. Since this was the Kings last night together they were very over and Sweeney even got a chant, leading to a nice bit of strutting. The Kings accepted the challenge laid down earlier in the night by the Briscoes.
This was a great tag team match and the fast pace made a nice change to the two previous matches. This was one of the smartest starts to a match that I can think of as it played off the Kings history of running off through the crowds, something they did during the ROH-CZW feud. The match had all the hallmarks of a Briscoes tag; a fast tempo, loads of double teams, some nice high flying and an immense finishing stretch. At the same time Hero and Castagnoli worked the match well as heels with Hero’s escapades adding to the match rather than dominating the proceedings, as would often be the case in 2007. Hero’s cunning and the Briscoes never say die attitude made this a great match and the finish helped to start one of the longest feuds in 2007, Hero vs. Castagnoli.
Post match, Castagnoli announced that he would be staying in ROH and promised to make 2007 a great year for the Kings of Wrestling. Sweeney exclaimed that he only cared for Chris Hero and Hero followed Sweeney, caring more for money then friendship. Samoa Joe then came out to a huge pop before telling Claudio to get out of his ring. Joe, who was out due to an injury from a TNA match, proceeded to cut a promo, including the now infamous “tripped over bad booking†line which may have postponed his push for the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Joe then called out Pro Wrestling NOAH, challenging them to send a main level talent to the next ROH show in New York. This lead Nigel McGuinness, a regular on NOAH tours, to come out and defend his Japanese home promotion. Jimmy Rave used this as revenge for his embarrassment earlier in the night as he ambushed Nigel. Joe stood his ground, slapped the taste out of Rave’s mouth, and set up an unscheduled match between the two.
Backstage Pearce and Hagadorn interrupted a backstage segment by Gary Michael Cappeta and gloated about taking out Julius Smokes.
Match 5: Jimmy Rave vs. Nigel McGuinness.
McGuinness had started this feud by playfully tossing a roll of toilet paper at Jimmy Rave. This was a throwback to Rave’s days in Prince Nana’s Embassy and caused Rave to snap. McGuinness was the longest reigning ROH Pure Champion before losing the belt in a Unification match to Bryan Danielson.
A very good contest which helped to develop the feud without sacrificing the match quality. I liked the fact that McGuinness modified his ring entrance because he didn’t trust Rave. This was a match that started off with strikes and arm work by McGuinness, with Rave looking for every opportunity he could find. They played off this being Rave’s second match of the night with Rave hitting some big moves early on in order to finish the match early. The match soon became a case of both guys hitting anything that they could think of in order to show who was the better man. McGuinness sold quite well and there were some nice touches but this was offset by the early arm work being forgotten and the fact that Rave kicked out of way too much. A rope break or two would have made no difference to the spots but it would have gotten the offence over while playing up Rave’s ring awareness. The crowd were enthralled by the end of the match by a combination of some very good wrestling and a nice story pitting McGuinness’ heart against Rave’s Opportunistic ways.
The camera cuts to backstage where we see Danielson prepare himself for the upcoming Title match.
Match 6: Cima, Matt Sydal and Shingo vs. Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Delirious.
This was a 6 man exhibition match held under Dragon Gate rules. These are Lucha rules in that you can come into the ring as soon as your legal partner hits the floor outside the ring. Cima, Shingo and Sydal were all members of the now defunct Blood Generation faction (the first two in it’s original form and Sydal in the Blood Generation International version). Aries and Strong chose Delirious since he had a lot of experience against Matt Sydal, their former Generation Next partner. Sydal was one half of the current ROH World Tag Team Champions and wasn’t afraid of rubbing it in his opponents faces. Cima was one of the founding members of Dragon Gate and Shingo was the first student of the Dragon Gate Dojo (not the Toryumon Dojo run by Ultimo Dragon).
This was a good six man match but nowhere near as good as the other Dragon Gate 6 man matches in 2006. This was a back and forth match where Sydal was out to prove how good he was and both sides exhibited some nice double and triple teams. The story was the Dragon Gate trio (Sydal made extensive trips to the promotion in 2006 and 2007) being more aware of each others strengths and weaknesses, with Delirious’ lack of familiarity with his partners costing them on numerous occasions. Sydal hit some very nice spots, especially with Strong, and Shingo was beginning to find his feet in ROH. Aries was probably had the best performance as he sold well and his offensive style is so explosive it easily draws you in. Unfortunately Cima had one of his worse displays in the ROH ring as he was a bit off in terms of communicating with the other wrestlers, although his selling of Strong’s chops was hilarious. Overall a nice, fast paced sprint which helped in that it would provide a different feel from the main event.
We then saw backstage footage of Homicide working himself up backstage, having to get himself mentally prepared without Julius Smokes. This was the last of a nice series of backstage scenes that, together with Adam Pearce’s actions and promo, helped hype the main event and make it feel special without giving you the feeling that the match was getting shoved down your throat.
Match 7: ROH World Title Match
Homicide (challenger) vs. Bryan Danielson (champion).
As I mentioned at the beginning, this was the climax of Homicide’s chase for the ROH title. The stakes were set with Homicide essentially putting his ROH career on the line in exchange for one last ROH title shot. Danielson had spent 15 months defending his title, beating an array of challengers. Danielson had beaten Homicide at Destiny using his MMA elbows, despite the fact that Homicide had not been knocked out. At International Challenge Danielson had targeted Homicides shoulder, setting it up for his array of submission holds. Danielson had been wrestling with a shoulder injury for months, after he had dislocated it in a 2/3 falls match against Colt Cabana.
The build for this match was great, not just in terms of storyline but in terms of the in ring action and the details. The referee, Todd Sinclair, had been the one who erroneously declared Homicide to be knocked out at Destiny. Both wrestlers had niggling shoulder injuries and they knew each other intimately after a best of 5 series in 2005. Unlike many of his title matches, Danielson was the clear heel and he was treated as such. The New York crowd, cheering on their home town hero, hated Danielson with a passion. Danielson’s actions helped to maintain this feeling, even when he would pull out moves that you can’t help but cheer for. The match storyline was great as it played of lots of past events without confusing newcomers. I could go into the twists of the match but I feel that you deserve to come into this match with no idea of what is to come. I will say that they really added something to the match and made it a much better match.
The match itself was very well wrestled. It was the only match of the show that started with mat wrestling. It is quite rare to only have one match on the ROH card start in this manner. I applaud the idea of making this the only match that stared this way as it made the match up feel more unique and special. This was not a match about hate, it was about the ROH World Title. Both men coveted the title and both men used everything that they had. The selling was good, the pace didn’t suffer to badly and the finish was good. There were some niggles such as the relative no selling of Danielson’s submissions at the end, but this was still the best match on the card. What helped this match were the little touches such as Danielson not shaking Homicides hand and the pay off to the massive build of Danielson’s Small Package.
The show ends with a video highlighting Homicides ROH career. This is really well done and is a very nice way to end this DVD.
Final Thoughts
This was a great show to end 2006 as it showed off a lot of what made ROH so good that year. You had nice, action packed sprints, good tag team matches and an excellent World Title match. The main event was the match of the show, not just for the quality but also for the way that it built on the story lines leading up to it. Homicides chase for ROH gold, Todd Sinclair’s poor decision at Destiny, Danielson’s shoulder injury and the inescapable small package were all referenced and this added to the match. One of my favourite parts was a near fall that had been built for a good part of the year, even if we didn’t know it then. This isn’t just a one match card though as The Briscoes had a great match with the Kings of Wrestling that would set up one of the main ROH story lines for 2007. Rave vs. McGuinness was another good match and this highlighted how good a heel Rave was at this point, even without Prince Nana. The 6 man match was good, as was the opening Four Corner Survival. Jacobs and Albright vs. Cabana and Whitmer was a good example of how good Gabe Sapolsky was at progressing story lines in 2006. Pearce vs. Reyes was a bad match but helped to add to the awesome build for the main event. In fact, this show was a good example of how to build up matches on the night, using skits, promos and even other matches to make you care for the later events. I wouldn’t call this the best ROH show of 2006 but it is a very good card and a very important purchase since it helped end the year 2006 and helped continue the first few feuds of 2007. This show is a very good example of how to build up a Title match so that the belt matters more then any feud between the competitors.
Spoiler
1)Jimmy Rave beat El Generico (x), Davey Richards and Christopher Daniels by Heel Hook.
2)Adam Pearce beat Ricky Reyes using Brass Knuckles.
3)Jimmy Jacobs (o) and Brent Albright beat BJ Whitmer and Colt Cabana (x) by Top Rope Senton after Albright Awesomebombed Whitmer through a table at ringside.
4)Jay and Mark (o) Briscoe beat Chris Hero (x) and Claudio Castagnoli by a Shooting Star Press, Leg Drop combination.
5) Jimmy Rave beat Nigel McGuinness by Heel Hook.
6)Cima (o), Shingo and Matt Sydal beat Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Delirious (x) using the Crossfire.
7)Homicide beat Bryan Danielson with the Lariat to become the NEW ROH World Heavyweight Champion.
