10 Thoughts on … Ring of Honor December 9, 2017 (Final Battle Build, Contract Signings, TV Title Match, and More!)

10 Thoughts, Reviews, Top Story

Thought Zero – Final Battle is this upcoming Friday. It is a stacked card, and on paper could be the best PPV of the year (based solely on how Jay Lethal versus Marty Scurll turns out). Let’s see how ROH handles the go-home show.

1) We start with the TV title on the line. Kenny King gave Caprice Coleman a title shot last week just because he said some things to him he didn’t like. Coleman comes out with Shane Taylor to be his backup or something. Taylor is scheduled to be part of the four-way match for the TV title at Final Battle, so that adds a little intrigue.

2) King looks darn good in the ring, as usual.And he should since he is the champion. His weird spastic dancing though needs to be calmed down a little bit. But Coleman looked surprisingly great too. Don’t get me wrong, I always have found Coleman to be a good wrestler with some awesome and over-the-top facial expressions (seriously, they are Vince McMahon level), he was very impressive here.

3) Excellent back and forth match as to be expected, including some awesome moves. Just a few: When fighting outside the ring, Coleman slides in to break the count, then skins the BOTTOM rope and hits King with a hurricarana. Later, Coleman set King up on the top rope and climbs to hit a top rope Frankensteiner, but when Coleman leaps up, King slides out and Coleman crashes spectacularly on the top turnbuckle, split-legged, and bounces down hard. The crowd let out a huge reaction to that one. King hit a T-Bone suplex into a bridged pin attempt which looked great. Coleman then hit three consecutive rolling Northern Lights suplexes and ended in a bridged pin attempt. Then Caprice hit a huge top rope diving leg lariat which landed perfectly. King then took out Shane Taylor with a twisting tope and finished Coleman with his Royal Flush slam thing. Honestly, any one of the moves I mentioned here could have been the finish to the match and the crowd would have been happy. Well done, guys.

4) After the match, Punishment Martinez jumps the rail to attack. Then Taylor comes in and the two men both punch King. Finally Silas Young comes in to tell Taylor and Martinez to not fight each other but to go after King. All three men do just that for a few seconds until Martinez shoves Young out of the way and then everyone starts going at it. We cut to commercial as everyone is still fighting. A bit of a cliche build to a four-way match, but still well done.

5) The Addiction comes out to talk about their match at Final Battle with War Machine. They reference the fan who was “injured” during their brawl a few weeks ago and demand ROH fire both members of War Machine immediately. Hansen comes out and attacks The Addiction by himself (as Rowe was suspended for 30 days). The Addiction get the upper hand and wind up taping Hansen to the ropes. Then Daniels cuts off part of Hansen’s beard. He then threatens to cut off his ear, but security hits the ring, Colby Corino cuts Hansen loose, and The Addiction head for higher ground. I have a feeling the Final Battle match is going to be brutal.

6) We get a brief promo from the Young Bucks and Adam Page about their six-man tag team title match at Final Battle. Apparently they are taking on Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee, and Titan. With the push Gordon’s been getting maybe they give him the meaningless six-man titles here. Or maybe not. Either way, expect a high flying spotfest of fun. Plus, Dragon Lee gets another chance to show everyone how great he is.

7) Back from break and the Briscoes come out. We’re still not sure why Mark turned, but heel Briscoes are better anyway. Jay Briscoe calls Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer cowards and apparently this is what we’ve been building to. Bully and Dreamer come out but security blocks their path. Joe Koff comes out and tells Dreamer and Bully Ray to back off. So Jay calls Koff a short old man. Oooo. So Joe Koff comes into the ring, gets in the Briscoes face, cuts a poor promo, and makes the match at Final Battle between the Briscoes and Dreamer and Bully Ray. Um, they’ve been saying how Bully can’t wrestle anymore due to his concussions. I don’t think this is a smart decision here. After Koff announces the match, Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer charge the ring and a melee ensues with security flying everywhere and all four men using copious amounts of energy to try to get at each other. And that is how you do a crazy brawl to set up a PPV match. But I still am not sure I want to see the match, unless the Briscoes just roll over the ECW legends.

8) We’re back with Jay Lethal taking on Matt Taven and Marty Scurll on commentary. Taven takes on Will Ospreay at Final Battle we are told, which could be a very good match too. Scurll immediately talks about wanting Jay Lethal because he is one of, if not the, best wrestler in Ring of Honor history. That’s how you build a match, not by talking down your opponent like John Cena does, but by building him up like Scurll is doing (and like Heyman does for Lesnar’s opponent all the time). Simply, Scurll on commentary is just awesome tonight. Lethal has a more aggressive streak tonight and has complete control until some outside distraction from The Kingdom allows Taven to take control. Back from break and Taven and Lethal trade right hands. After a sloppy miss, Lethal hits the Lethal Combination which still looks as amazing as ever.

9) More goodness as Scurll loses it on commentary, screaming at Ian Riccaboni to shut up in a hilarious moment. Cabana points out that Scurll is drawing attention to the announce booth, and Scurll basically says, “Duh. That’s what I do.” Scurll then comes to the ring and slides his umbrella in to Lethal and tells him to use it on Taven. Lethal debates whether he should use it, decides against it, and Taven rolls him up for a three count. You know what, I am still not 100% sure where this storyline is going, but that is okay because I like the work both men are doing and it has been a while since I was unsure of how something would play out in this pro wrestling world.

10) Main event contract signing? What is this, WWE Raw? Cody is already in the ring with a fur coat, some champagne, and his wife. Dalton Castle comes out without the Boys but with a cool new jacket. We see Cody and Brandi rocking out with air guitar to Castle’s theme song which is pretty fun. Cody is acting all arrogant and like he is not concerned with Castle. In fact, Cody and Brandi seem to be doing a little Miz/Maryse thing. The camera cuts to Castle and he is cracking up, trying desperately to not break character. Castle then calls Cody “Overdressed, overpaid, and overrated.” That pisses Cody off and gets the crowd to chant “Overrated.” Both men sign the contract and then stare each other down. And we’re out.

 

Oh, just buy Final Battle on Friday and enjoy some awesomeness. Until next week…

Human. I think.