Ring of Honor
Date: December 12, 2018
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
It’s the go home show for Final Battle and most of the card is actually set for the only time of the year. I could go for more of that but ROH would rather have the ridiculous scheduling for whatever reason. On top of that this is likely the last time we’ll be seeing the major stories this year as we tend to get Best Of shows to close out December. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of SCU’s contract situation and Christopher Daniels agreeing to have his last match against Marty Scurll at Final Battle with a World Title shot on the line.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young vs. Flip Gordon
Fallout from a few weeks back where Gordon got caned. Hang on though as Flip asks if Silas is really the Last Real Man. If he’s that serious, let’s make this an I Quit match as a Final Battle preview. Silas kicks him down and says it’s on. Gordon is in trouble early and a suplex makes things even worse. Flip starts the flipping into the kicks and a springboard spear has Silas on the floor, followed by a flip dive.
Some hard forearms against the barricade have Silas in more trouble and a snap suplex on the floor makes things even worse. Back in and Flip misses the 450, setting up the backbreaker into a clothesline. A springboard clothesline is ducked (with a nipup instead of a flip) and Flip sends him outside for a middle rope moonsault. We take a break and come back with Flip putting a table up in the corner but Silas throws a chair at his head. Some chair shots to the ribs keep Flip down and Silas stands on the ribs while screaming for him to quit.
That’s a big negative so Silas knees him in the face and hits a swinging hanging neckbreaker. A seated full nelson from the side has Flip in more trouble but he pops up, only to miss a dive to the floor in a bad looking crash. It’s kendo stick time so Gordon grabs the chair and beats him to the strike. Gordon loads up the stick but here’s Bully Ray to choke him with a chain. Silas adds a spear through the table….and apparently it’s a no contest at about 11:00.
Result: Flip Gordon vs. Silas Young went to a no contest (11:00)
Heart monitor vignette again.
Video on Hangman Page vs. Jeff Cobb. Page has NOT been impressed.
Here are Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky for a chat but the Briscoe Brothers jump them from behind. The Young Bucks run in to get rid of the Briscoes and shake the champs’ hands. The Briscoes shove SCU into the Bucks and it’s time for superkicks. The Bucks bring in a ladder but Kazarian dropkicks it into them, leaving Sky to dive onto the Briscoes. SCU climbs the ladders and pose.
Video on the Women’s Title match between Sumie Sakai, Kelly Klein, Madison Rayne and Karen Q.
Christopher Daniels, with some clips of his career, talks about how he’s accomplished everything around here and there’s nothing left for him to do. Would anyone blame him for just retiring? Well he’s not cool with just leaving and having the chance to fight again tomorrow. What’s what matters to him more than anything else. He wants to be able to keep fighting but he’s put himself in this position. He’s made Joe Koff put him out of the company and Koff knows that if Daniels gets a new contract, the evil could be right back the next day.
The sands of time are starting to run out and it’s leading to Final Battle. He had Scurll beaten at Survival of the Fittest and it’s going to be his one last shot at a fresh start. Daniels knows what Scurll is thinking because he’s been there before. This means so much more to Daniels though and he’s going to bring it like never before.
Kingdom vs. Cody/Jay Lethal/Dalton Castle
Lethal and O’Ryan start things off but Cody tags himself in before anything can happen. And now Castle does the same so he can go after O’Ryan, drawing everyone else in for the big brawl. Cody Disaster Kicks Marseglia to the floor and suicide dives onto Taven and Lethal at the same time. That leaves Castle to suplex O’Ryan and it’s legally back to Cody as things get back to normal.
A delayed vertical suplex drops O’Ryan again and Lethal comes back in for an elbow to the jaw. Castle comes back in and we take a break. Back with O’Ryan still in trouble, until Taven comes in to get a cheap shot on Castle but it’s Cody getting caught in the Kingdom corner. That means a lot of chopping and then a chinlock from O’Ryan.
Cody fights out in a hurry and snaps off a powerslam so Castle can come back in to clean house. Taven breaks up a run down the apron and it’s the almost entirely banged up Castle being sent into the barricade. Somehow the referee sees NONE of this and it’s Marseglia coming in legally to keep up the stomping. A running knee to the face lets Taven yell at the crowd and get a rather delayed one with Lethal coming in to stare at him for the break.
Back from another break with Castle hitting a DDT to get himself out of trouble and handing it back over to Lethal. A powerslam puts Marseglia down and the announcers point out that it’s the same move Cody used earlier. Taven is right back up and tries a Conchairto so Castle BEATS HIM WITH THE SWEATER. They fight into the crowd and run into the back so we’re down to two on two.
Cody tags himself in but Lethal isn’t going with that and hits a cutter on O’Ryan. Marseglia hits a Sliced Bread as everything breaks down. The Lethal Injection to O’Ryan is broken up with a rollup from Cody as the announcers aren’t sure what’s going on. Lethal takes Marseglia to the floor and Cross Rhodes finishes O’Ryan at 15:34.
Result: Cody/Jay Lethal/Dalton Castle b. The Kingdom – Cross Rhodes to O’Ryan (15:34)
Post match Cody says there’s nothing left to say and he’ll see Lethal at Final Battle.
Castle says he’s going to be dishing out a baker’s dozen of suplexes. Wait isn’t a baker’s dozen twenty? We’ll go with twenty instead.
Taven says he’ll win because of who he is.
Page says Cobb is in trouble because he has the guts to jump off the roof. The title should have been his a long time ago.
Cobb is ready.
Jonathan Gresham is ready to show he can out wrestle Zack Sabre Jr.
Madison Rayne has wrestled her entire career for this moment.
Kelly Klein says she hasn’t gotten a fair shot in eight months. Klein: “At Final Battle, you will lose to me.”
Cody is ready to lead ROH into the future.
Lethal says Final Battle is in his backyard and Cody isn’t using a shortcut to get to the title.
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28 wrestling books. His latest book is the the Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews.
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