McXal's Reviews

A staple of the ROH calendar since Year One, an event which has become Ring Of Honor's iconic event and biggest show of the year (no matter how hard Sinclair push 'Best In The World' at us); here we are at the promotion's annual year-ending extravaganza. The main event has been promoted since the summer and will see Dalton Castle challenge Bullet Club's Cody for the World Title. It will be Franchise vs Villain as Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll meet in a hotly-anticipated undercard bout which stands out even with every title up for grabs. ECW nostalgia will be in full force the Hammerstein Ballroom too, as Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer join forces to face the Briscoes. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana are on commentary in Manhattan, NY. ROH in the Hammerstein have never looked more big-time either, with more screens than ever before and a huge screen-carrying rig over the ring too.

This time last year the implication was that Ospreay had 'signed' with ROH. That may have been true, but it has been crystal clear that NJPW is his home promotion and most of his ROH dates have either been the 'big' shows or coincided with the ROH/NJPW tours. He returns for Final Battle and opens the show in a big-time match with Matt Taven. No doubt The Kingdom will believe it is a conspiracy that their centrepiece is in the opening match - but working with Ospreay is a huge opportunity for Taven. Punishment Martinez proved on the Global Wars Tour that Will can be beaten too. Taven gets a bizarre 'special' entrance where Marseglia and TK kill 'conspiracy' figures like 'Fish-Man'...

SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY OSPREAY wipes out Vinny and TK. AIR TAVEN NAILED! Back in the ring Ospreay misses a standing moonsault but then dropkicks Matt back to the floor seconds later. O'Ryan distracts Ospreay which allows Taven to take control by clobbering him with a springboard enzi. Taven argues with referee Todd Sinclair inside the ring...as on the floor Marseglia and O'Ryan take turns heaving the Aerial Assassin into the guardrail. They return him to the ring where Taven almost knocks him out with a running knee strike. Handspring Pele kick by Ospreay, but he is slow to follow it up. Pip Pip Cheerio/Red Star Press combo does eventually get him a nearfall though. He tries a standing moonsault again...only for Taven to boot him in the back of the head. Ospreay tries another handspring only to vault straight into a Lion Tamer. Taven draws a genuine laugh from me by yelling a demand to be booked on the 2018 Jericho Cruise. HIDDEN BLADE gets 2 for Will. It doesn't keep The Kingdom's leader down for long and Matt comes back with a rolling neckbreaker. Cheeky Nando's Kick! SPRINGBOARD SSP TO THE FLOOR BY OSPREAY! But for a second time Taven is nowhere to be seen and it's his lackies who take the hit. He tries to capitalise with a Five Star Frog Splash but goes right into Ospreay's knees. Climax COUNTERED TO THE C-4! OSCUTTER COUNTERED TO THE CLIMAX! Taven wins at 10:48

Rating - **** - What a hot start to the show. It was little more than a ten-minute sprint, but for this building on this night it was a perfect opener. They started hard and fast and had the crowd right with them from there. The Kingdom, as Massachusetts natives, are always big heels in NYC. It meant Ospreay was beloved, and the antics of all three Kingdom members were drawing real heat. The outside interference was kept to a tolerable minimum, and the whole match built to a clean finish, HUGE victory for Matt Taven who can look forward to 2018 with real optimism.

This is a final ROH PPV appearance for Hanson and Rowe, and they are a long way down the card. They find themselves, once again, encountering serious issues with The Addiction. In 2016 it was Daniels and Kazarian who took their ROH Tag Titles from them, and somehow managed to keep them over several subsequent matches (in what was a catastrophically bad feud for all concerned). In Philadelphia last month Hanson and Rowe looked on the brink of righting that wrong. They were poised to hit Fallout and take the Tag Championship back from the Motor City Machine Guns...until Daniels and Kaz came out and distracted them. The war between these two teams was instantly reignited and in a violent ringside confrontation a couple of weeks later, Ray Rowe accidentally injured a 'fan' at ringside. He was suspended and missed the Elite/Sunshine State Excellence weekend in Florida - but returns for a final showdown.

It's a big brawl to start which clearly favours the big bearded dudes. The Addiction show their experience by easily countering Hanson's count-along corner attacks and stealing the sequence to use it themselves. Rowe saves his partner and decimates both opponents in an intense 30-second period. Again Daniels and Kaz show their veteran instincts and utilise frequent, fluent double-team moves to overwhelm Rowe. Big Ray puts a step to that by Cement Mixing one opponent into another. Sledgehammer strikes by Hanson, right into a double Bronco Buster. Decapitation gets 2 for War Machine. Daniels starts trying to pin Rowe using the ropes - but keeps getting spotted by ref Mike Posey. Tomikaze in response by Frankie, who then joins Daniels in hitting a double pancake to drop Hanson on top of Ray. Cartwheel Lariat by Hanson...then the Judo Knee smash by Rowe. Superman Elbow countered with Kaz's slingshot Ace Crusher. Handspring elbow by Hanson! Thor's Hammer! FALLOUT! War Machine finally get their definitive win over The Addiction at 09:27

Rating - ** - Far more low key than some of their 2016 work, but at least it was well presented and emphasised the strengths of the competitors rather than making them all look like foolish. It was a nice way to end Hanson and Rowe's ROH PPV career as well, finally getting their much-craved clean, uninterrupted bout with Daniels and Kazarian.

This feels very 'traditionally ROH' in its execution. Marty challenged Jay Lethal to a match at the biggest PPV of the year - by goading him that he wasn't as good as in 2014/15/16, when he used villainous tactics to ensure he reigned as World and/or TV Champion. He wanted to face Lethal at Final Battle because he wants to face the best (that theme has been consistent since Marty debuted), but he wants to beat the best VERSION of Lethal - i.e. the one who would do whatever it takes to win. Since the challenge was made he has been trying to tempt Lethal to cheat in his matches. A case in point would be Survival Of The Fittest 2017, where Scurll gift-wrapped Jay a chance to cheat and beat Punishment Martinez. Instead Jay went after The Villain, costing him the match with Martinez and a potential World Title shot. On Lethal's part, he still believes he is the best and dismissed Scurll's claims, stating he did villainous things because he 'wanted to' rather than because he 'needed to' like Marty does. The winner here will clearly be a top contender for the World Title in 2019...

The crowd is pumped for this, with plenty of Lethal fans to offset the scores of Bullet Club shirts. Jay is happy to trade holds with the Englishman and is, in fact, so respectful that it pisses Marty off. The Villain angrily slaps him in the face trying to provoke the 'old Jay Lethal'. Superkick from the apron goes straight through the side of Lethal's head. That sparks hints of the 'old' Lethal; he snaps and launches Marty into the guardrails. The Villain is injured and Lethal stalks him around the ring, dishing out emphatic strikes as he goes. Scurll tries to go for the arm only to be dropkicked off the apron and smeared into the guardrails again with a tope suicida. TURNBUCKLE SUPLEX by Scurll drops Lethal on his head. That was certainly villainous and with Jay still recovering he stomps the arm into the mat. The Franchise tries to protect the arm by engaging his rival in an exchange of big strikes. Lethal tries to end that with a Figure 4, only for Marty to counter to a pin for 2! Lethal Combination gets a 2 in quick response. Scurll kicks at his arm as he tries to set up for Hail To The King...and drags him down with a superplex which sends Jay bouncing outside. Tornado DDT on the floor by Scurll! ACE CRUSHER ON THE FLOOR BY LETHAL! But he comes up selling his arm, clearly hurt as much as Marty is! Lethal Injection COUNTERED to the Chickenwing! Jay rolls through into a pin for 2! Todd Sinclair is bumped as Marty kicks Lethal in the balls. Opportunity is knocking and The Villain brings a steel chair into the ring! Seeing Todd recovering, Marty tosses the chair to Lethal then hits the deck Eddie Guerrero-style trying to sneak a victory...so Lethal does it too! Sinclair has no clue what happened so can't DQ anyone, whilst the crowd launch into a defeaning 'Eddie' chant. RUNNING LARIAT to block the Lethal Injection. GHOSTBUSTER GETS 2! That's Adam Cole's ROH version of the 'Last Shot', which Marty now uses and is named in reference to Cole's 'Being The Elite' demise. Figure 4 Leglock by the champion, only for Marty to get the ropes. He hands Lethal an umbrella, and pulls another one out for himself. Todd confiscates Jay's umbrella, and Marty HAMMERS Lethal with the other! JUMPING PILEDRIVER FOR 2! Lethal tries to use the umbrella, then LOW BLOWS SCURLL! LETHAL INJECTION! Lethal wins at 15:52

Rating - **** - When a dilemma over cheating and illegal weapon use is a central point of the story leading to a match, it is usually unavoidable that we'll see some of the said cheating/illegality in the match itself. They got the tone just about perfect for me here. Scurll was the aggressor who continually probed, pushed and taunted Lethal all match. The gradual acceptance of the 'dark side' was brilliantly portrayed by Lethal too. First he wanted no part of it, then was willing to try an Eddie Guerrero trick and by the end was swinging weapons and kicking his opponent in the balls. The 'old' Jay Lethal trumped The Villain in this very well-told story. I wasn't enamoured with Lethal going over (I felt like Marty needed it more) but a fantastic, grounded and hard-fought match that I really liked.

Chuckie T and Trent Beretta defeated The Addiction on Episode 321 of the TV show to earn this shot. Sabin and Shelley have been on a hot-streak since defeating the Bucks for the Tag Titles in Las Vegas. Will their gruelling schedule of title defences catch up with them this evening? I really like the Best Friends team and am a big Chuck Taylor fan in particular - but their pre-match promo for this was awful. They prepare for the biggest match in their short ROH career with a weird, comedy segment where they can't record a promo because they keep giggling at each other...or decide whether they should wear shirts or be topless...or pronounce 'ROH Tag Titles'. Sometimes bringing the PWG vibe to ROH is much-needed to cut through the pompous amounts of self-importance. This was absolutely not one of those times.

MCMG don't have regular cameo spots on Being The Elite, so are once again the de facto heels as a result. Sabin and Chuckie start...and Sabin takes a cheap shot into the Kentucky Gentleman's stomach to get us started. Shelley stops the Friends hugging by poking Beretta in the eyes too. Trent recovers to stop Sabin going through Shelley's legs with a tope. HE dives through Alex's legs instead...into a tope suicida HUG with Taylor. MCMG are not impressed and try to cave in his skull with tandem kicks from the apron. Beretta ends up dumped into the guardrails on top of his head with the champions riling up the crowd. Sabin gets more heat by stomping on Trent's balls in a tree of woe position, before he and Shelley hug. Dream Sequence gets 2, right before Chris steps off his partner's back to dropkick Taylor from the apron. Sliced Bread #2 blocked into a tornado DDT to Sabin, opening the door for Beretta to tag Chuck in...except he goes straight back outside with a tope atomico to wipe out the champs. Lawn Dart Cutter gets 2 for the Friends. Dudebuster lined up by Trent but countered with a superkick/Code Red combo. Through-the-legs tope to take out Taylor. Skull & Bones gets 2 on Trent. Made In Detroit blocked...STRONG ZERO NAILED! Shelley breaks the pin! Taylor saves ups partner from a Sliced Bread on the floor...into a LAWN DART CUTTER ON THE FLOOR for Shelley! Piledriver by Chuck...no sold by Sabin, who jack-knife pins Trent to retain at 10:25

Rating - *** - If I were booking ROH I would seriously consider letting the Machine Guns have a proper run as heels. I know it's difficult because they just turned the Briscoes, but this is the third time in the second half of 2017 that Sabin and Shelley have delivered a cutting and terrific heel performance when provoked by Being The Elite-loving fans. They looked like they were having a blast ripping the Best Friends routine to shreds and goading the Hammerstein Ballroom crowd. The actual match was well-structured and enjoyable too. The Friends are both great sympathetic babyfaces, they both have plenty of exciting offensive bursts too. I wasn't a fan of no-selling a piledriver in the finish though.

Martinez has a really good 'special' entrance, coming out of a coffin surrounded by creepy, face-painted 'disciples' with flaming pyro too. It is a low-budget Undertaker rip-off, but I still thought it was effective. Not only does he have a special entrance, but he arrives here having just won the 2017 Survival Of The Fittest Tournament, so knows he'll enter 2018 with a shot at the World Title in his back pocket as well. King is the defending champion. He defeated Kushida at Death Before Dishonor to claim the belt and immediately promised to be a fighting champion. He has lived up to his vow, but those words may bite him in the ass tonight when he steps into the ring with three big, bad dudes. Elimination rules are in affect so he will have to survive all of them to leave as champion...

The only two who shake hands are former stable-mates King and Taylor. Kenny starts and uses his speed to get the better of Silas. Kenny's athleticism almost gets the better of Martinez too...until the big man almost knocks him out with a single elbow smash. Taylor orders Kenny out so 'all that dancing sh*t' can stop and he can fight the 'big b*tch' Martinez. Living up to his word, he clobbers Punisher over the top rope in short order. Young takes Shane down with a pescado, as King cleans out Martinez with a spinning heel kick. Corkscrew pescado by the champ leaving all four men down. Punishment is up first and hits a STEP-UP SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Super spinning heel kick knocks King away, but Taylor hits back with a pop-up chokeslam! Lungblower from Young to Taylor, only for him to be floored by a spinebuster from the rejuvenated King. Lariat from Taylor, as Kenny sends Martinez to the outside with the One Night Stand. Capo kick aimed at Shane but BLOCKED with a headbutt! Greetings From 216! He has the champ down and out, but turns and takes the time to floor Silas with the Knockout Punch too. TURNBUCKLE DVD on Punishment. Diving splash gets 2 on the 2017 SOTF winner. ROYAL FLUSH on Taylor! Springboard senton by Martinez - and he eliminates Shane at 09:06. The crowd is completely silent and completely not into this unfortunately. Silas kills Punishment's momentum with a flying crossbody off the apron, instantly followed by Shotgun Knees into the railing by King. Silas lifts Martinez, so they can hit the ONE NIGHT STAND ON THE FLOOR! It is hugely disappointing that neither Cabana or Riccaboni acknowledge that as King's finisher as part of ANX. Martinez looks out on his feet and walks into the Royal Flush! Beer City Bruiser jumps on the apron, distracting the ref as Young smashes a beer bottle over Kenny's head! Apparently Todd doesn't see the glass all over the ring and counts the fall. King is eliminated at 12:57 and we are guaranteed a new champion. Punishment is still woozy but counters Misery into a ripcord kick. South Of Heaven nailed...only for Bruiser to pull Young out of the ring to break the count. SUICIDE DIVE OVER THE RINGPOST wipes out Bruiser! But in doing so he apparently suffers a massive injury to his ribs. Martinez tries a Last Ride on Young but collapses holding his side. Obviously Young goes after it with a spear into the barricade. Back in the ring he brutally kicks and knees him in the ribs. MISERY! Young wins the TV Title at 17:27

Rating - *** - Giving Delirious credit, the silence from the audience at times tells you that this wasn't the match the live crowd wanted to see the most - but he made a brave call in giving them more time than most ROH PPV matches get and for the most part they filled it with good content. Yes the crowd were poor at times...but then again ROH runs less shows in NY, and when they do the NJPW guys are usually keeping men like Taylor, Martinez and even Silas or Kenny off the card anyway. How much chance has this market really had to accept this group of individuals as legitimate championship contenders? Each man gave it their all, it felt hard-fought and gruelling - so ultimately I couldn't ask for much more from all involved. Throughout 2017 I've been crying out for Silas and Martinez to be used better. I thought Punisher was well-presented throughout, including his special entrance which, in turn, made Silas' win feel even more special because he was the man able to slay the beast; winning the title by defeating a man who just won Survival Of The Fittest. The amount of interference and overbooking in the second half was my main irritation. The beer bottle spot was hugely contrived and felt like it only existed to half-ass some protection for King (who just has gotten less and less over as his TV Title reign progressed).

I won't say it has justified his place in ROH, but in just a couple of months this mini-feud with the Briscoes has been infinitely more entertaining than what Bubba has spent the rest of his tenure doing. I wish he'd have come in and run with this angle right away. He is acknowledged as a member of one of the best tag teams of all time - and it is natural that he would want to brush shoulders with the best tag team in ROH history. They initially teamed together and won the Six-Man Titles, but the run ended acrimoniously with the shocking loss to Dalton Castle & The Boys - with each man blaming another for the loss. Jay's always-fragile grip on his temper was gone. At Death Before Dishonor he turned on Bully by throwing a table into his face, giving the veteran a concussion before leaving with a rant about he and Mark should've been concentrating on being the best tag team all along. Mark's loyalties were divided chastised his brother's actions and refused to follow his order to concentrate on their team - whilst Dreamer made his first ROH appearance in years to criticise Jay for potentially ending Bully's career. Bubba used the Global Wars Tour as a round of farewell appearances in his old stomping grounds. Mark injured his elbow wrestling Hiromu Takahashi on the same tour. The situation came to a head - fittingly in the 2300 (aka ECW) Arena - when Jay forcibly pulled his brother from a TV Title Match...and his brother violently did fall back in line when they attacked the two ECW legends in the building they made famous. The Briscoes trashed the Team 3-D Wrestling Academy and got into another brawl with their rivals in Florida too, giving Joe Koff apparently no choice but to book this. Ian Riccaboni has called this potentially Bully's last match with questions remaining about his head injury. It's also Dreamer's first ROH match too, having made multiple appearances but never actually wrestled.

Dreamer and Bully come out through the crowd in a scene familiar to fans used to witnessing ECW shows in this building. They spit beer into the Briscoes' faces as the fight gets underway. Cannonball off the apron by Tommy...and he then shows a surprising speed of thought to duck as Mark tries to do the same thing to him. Bubba launches his own frame off the apron with a double crossbody block too. Jay gets some payback by ramming Ray's skull into the ringpost, going after the head injury he inflicted in Vegas. Bully is still staggering like a drunk as Jay flies through him with an elbow suicida. Everyone grabs a steel chair and starts swinging - with the veterans driving the Briscoes out of the ring. Jay and Mark return with Singapore canes...so Tommy and Bully leave to go get toy lightsabers! Dreamer also brings in the kitchen sink and uses it to blast Mark in the ribs. They try to get a table involved...only for Mark to dropkick it into their heads. Bubba is out, just like in Las Vegas, and when he comes back he is covered in blood. SOMERSAULT SENTON THROUGH A LADDER from Mark to Dreamer! On the other side of the ring Jay is approaching the bloody Bully Ray with a cheesegrater! HE GRATES THE BLOODY FOREHEAD! He then wraps a chair around Tommy's neck for a STEEL CHAIR DAY ONE NECKBREAKER! Back drop to the floor from Bully to Mark. Jay Driller blocked, but so is the Bubba Bomb. JAY WHACKS A CHAIR INTO BULLY'S HEAD! That was brutal. Jay grabs a table and sets up the Las Vegas table-throwing spot again...but this time the groggy Bully blocks it. 3-DII on top of a table by Team ECW! SINGAPORE CANE SUPLEX BY TOMMY! SPICCOLI DRIVER OFF THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE! Inside the ring Bully is literally SMACKING THE SH*T OUT OF JAY with a Singapore cane. SPLASH THROUGH A TABLE! JAY KICKS OUT! Tommy feeds Bully a can of lighter fluid, but the Briscoes refuse to play ball and give Bully a 3-D INTO the table. It doesn't break, so Mark puts an exclamation point on it with a Froggy Bow through the table too. The Briscoes win at 16:15

Rating - **** - This was excellent, delivering beyond my wildest expectations. And it delivered not just because it was crazy, bloody and violent...but holy sh*t did they have a great story to tell here. The toy lightsaber spot in the middle is much-maligned, but I thought it was brilliant. The Briscoes tooled up with Singapore canes. Anyone that is familiar with ECW history should know all about Tommy's encounters with that weapon over the years. Therefore it was the ultimate sign of disrespect that this duo of hardcore legends would be so unimpressed by their great rivals trying to introduce this notorious weapon in ECW history...that they instead decided to make a joke out of it. Bully has talked a lot about wanting to 'help the young guys', but I have seen precious little of that throughout his time in ROH. Tonight, though, his desire to put the Briscoes over was apparent. He bled buckets, he sold his head injury pretty well and even took the fall (I was sure Tommy was here to eat the pin for Bubba). My issue with Bully all year has been that he has pedalled a needless ECW nostalgia act and buried everyone he has worked with. Tonight the mix between affectionate ECW nostalgia and genuine effort to put deserving younger talent over was perfectly balanced. Indeed, the finish (although disappointingly messy thanks to the table not breaking) was the ultimate 'f*ck you' to ECW's legacy, as the ROH team refused to let them do a flaming table spot and just beat their old asses. Blood, guts, a strong story and the right team went over. I think this one has been really under-rated...

To allow them time to get medical help for Bully and to clear the ring, ROH run down their 'Top 5 Final Battle moments' - which are as follows:

5) Homicide wins the World Title from Bryan Danielson in 2006

4) Jay Lethal retains the World Title against AJ Styles in 2015.

3) Bryan Danielson wins a Fight Without Honor against Takeshi Morishima in 2008.

2) El Generico & Kevin Steen - both in 2010 and 2012

1) Austin Aries defeats Samoa Joe in 2004, ending his legendary two-year ROH Title reign.

Ian Riccaboni is on the stage next. He brings out Brandi Rhodes, Deonna Purrazzo, Jenny Rose, Bonesaw Brooks, Kelly Klein, Mandy Leon, Stella Grey, Sumie Sakai and Mayu Iwatani from Stardom to witness the announcement that in 2018 we will see the first ever Women Of Honor Champion crowned - along with the unveiling of the new championship belt.

We know the history between the Bucks and Flip. They picked on him relentlessly in their YouTube show, but in recent months he has started to fight back, and he even got a singles win over Hangman at the Florida TV Taping. He has called on the support of others like him to help fight, forming a 'Flip Army' that has seen him join forces with the likes of The Addiction, Coast 2 Coast, Scorpio Sky...and now stars from CMLL too. Titan more than deserves this chance to impress the US audience after his excellent performances during the War Of The Worlds UK Tour, in particular the classic TV Title Match he had with Kushida in London. Scorpio Sky is on commentary and is a little salty that Flip didn't pick him to be in this match.

Dragon starts with Nick with both men working at a frantic pace. Nick goes lucha and hits a flipping armdrag off the ropes...only for Lee to easily roll through it. Page decks Titan with an elbow but is surprised to see the masked man absorb his best shot and get straight back up. Matt wants to shake Flip's hand...so Gordon offers him a 'Too Sweet' which he is legally barred from doing. DUELLING DROPKICK FLURRY SIX-WAYS! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT OUTSIDE BY TITAN! TOPE ATOMICOS BY DRAGON AND FLIP! The Hammerstein has enough room at ringside for Titan not to almost die hitting that spot tonight. Running Shiranui from Matt to Titan, into the Drop-sault from Hangman. TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY PAGE! RISE OF THE TERMINATOR SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OFF THE STAGE by Matt! Hangman scrapes Titan off the arena floor and tries to knock his ass out with a short-range boot into the side of the head. Flip starts Matrix-ducking under Superkicks and stacks the Bucks up for a double 619 then a springboard blockbuster. Page blocks the Samoan Pop only to walk into the springboard Sling Blade. ONE-LEGGED SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! 450 Splash misses...Samoan Pop instead for 2. Ghetto Stomp by Lee...but he celebrates right into a Superkick! Star Spangled Stunner by Flip...and he also celebrates into a Superkick! Titan tries a quebrada...KINDER SURPRISE blocks the Meltzer! RUNNING RANA TO THE FLOOR BY DRAGON! JUMPING DDT ON THE APRON BY MATT! BUCKSHOT LARIAT FOR 2! Star Spangled Stunner blocked...Rite Of Passage countered...so both Hangman and Flip knock each other out instead. Desnucadora gets 2 for Dragon Lee! Gordon attempts a 450 Splash but gets knees again, as Nick moonsaults off the apron onto Titan's head. Dragon tries another running rana, but is caught by Hangman. He feeds Lee to Matt Jackson for a SHOOTING STAR INDYTAKER ON THE FLOOR! Flip is left alone with all three champions. Pele on Matt! He tries a back flip...INTO AN UPSIDE DOWN TRIPLE SUPERKICK! The Bucks load Hangman up with both Lee and Flip. INDYTAKER/RITE OF PASSAGE COMBO! Matt pins Flip to retain at 14:54

Rating - **** - On paper this one sounded fun and it lived up to that billing. For fifteen minutes they sprinted around the ring, flew through the air, beat the sh*t out of each other and gave it everything they had. It wasn't the most substantial match, and I wanted to see more from the Bucks/Flip story (this felt way more like an exhibition than a grudge match) but the action was cutting edge. I thought the Bucks really showed their ability and diversity as workers with how easily they integrated Dragon Lee and Titan. Obviously they have the athleticism to work a match like this, but integrating Lucha Libre with American-style pro-wrestling isn't always easy in regular matches, let alone intricate, multiple moving pieces spot matches like we had here. The Bucks, Lee and Titan made it look effortless.

Scorpio leaves commentary to 'check on Flip' but has to stand and watch as The Addiction show up to attack the Hung Bucks. Then Sky jumps Gordon too! Daniels, Kazarian and Scorpio pose with the Six-Man belts in the middle of the ring to signal that a new trio has been formed.

As we are already past two hours and thirty minutes before either man has made his entrance, it is clear that this one is getting shafted for time. This keeps happening with ROH pay-per-views and they need to get better at it. There is no excuse for this - a World Title match they have been building to since the summer, and headline bout on their biggest show of the year - not getting enough time. It happened with Minoru Suzuki in Vegas too. It was during the War Of The Worlds UK Tour event in Liverpool that Castle challenged Cody to a title match. In Edinburgh the American Nightmare's response was to assault Dalton backstage; an attack which left Castle injured and his Boys haven't been seen since. The Party Peacock returned at Global War 2017 in Chicago, dressing as a masked Cody Rhodes fan before attacking him. The challenger has racked up win after win on the road to Final Battle and believes that nobody can beat him in a 1-on-1 wrestling match right now. A win would be a fairytale story for him - a 'comedy' wrestler coming out of the indies, smooth sailing through Chikara, crashing out in the first round of the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament...and now a three-count away from becoming World Champion in the main event of ROH's biggest show. Can he do it?

The Boys are back as part of a huge entrance for Castle. Cody has his wife carry the new World Title belt to the ring as he reveals a new bleach-blonde haircut. Castle lays down an immediate marker by grappling Cody into the corner and instantly blocking a low blow on the way out as Cody tries to get himself disqualified. Rhodes' drop-down palm strike is blocked too, then the Disaster Kick is ducked. Dalton has an answer for everything Cody has in the locker it seems. Cody leaves the ring looking to stall for time, but finally needs Brandi to distract Dalton before he can finally land some offence; kicking the ropes into the challenger's balls and blasting him with a hanging flatliner afterwards. Hardcore Holly Kick nailed, setting up the Alabamaslam for 2. Now he tries to get disqualified by shoving Todd Sinclair around...only for Todd to shove him on his ass. LeBell Lock applied - which Castle has to work hard to escape. The fight goes back to the floor where Rhodes dumps his opponent, bad back and all, into the entrance steps. Dalton tries a tiger-feint headscissors...which Cody counters with a POWERBOMB through the timekeeping table. Still no DQ, so Cody tries to use a chair. The Boys stop him...so Brandi hits a TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE onto them! Todd ejects them all from ringside. 'F*ck off Todd' - Brandi as she leaves! Dalton rallies with suplexes and bashes Cody's head into the ringpost to split him open. Disaster Kick on the apron by the bloodstained champion. EVEREST GERMAN ON THE FLOOR! Back in the ring Castle blocks Cross Rhodes then ducks causing Cody to inadvertently lay out the ref. Julie Newmar clutch applied - and Cody taps out with no official to register the submission. Bang-A-Rang countered to Cross Rhodes...for 2. BANG-A-RANG! Dalton is the new World Champion at 12:52

Rating - ** - This was far from an awful match - but as the main event of your biggest pay-per-view of the year, and the match you want to use to springboard a new talent as the face of your company it was a total disaster. Heads should roll for having another PPV to be so poorly laid out and time managed that there just isn't enough left in the broadcast for a proper main event. They worked hard, Cody bled a lot, and they did have some good ideas too. I thought Cody trying to get himself disqualified was a great way to put over the threat Dalton posed and an obvious pay-off to how he has conducted himself as champion throughout the second half of the year. But what the hell did ROH expect these guys to pull out in less than thirteen minutes? And an overbooked thirteen minutes at that? I'm happy for Dalton. This win felt genuinely surprising at the time as The Elite were SO over, Cody already had a Wrestle Kingdom title defence announced and Castle's popularity had probably peaked. But great moments and great matches make for great World Champions - and this was neither. Which probably says everything you need to about both new and former champion. Oh, and the new belt is by far the ugliest in ROH history. I hate it.

Tape Rating - *** - If they had a four-hour PPV time slot and enough time for a proper main event then this would have been a great show. Unfortunately it wasn't and, for as good as the PPV was for the most part, my real takeaway from this will be Dalton's title win and how ROH messed up time management on a pay-per-view again. Did they really need to book The Addiction vs War Machine tonight? Could they not have done it at the TV taping to have the newly-formed SCU run Hanson and Rowe out on their last night? Machine Guns/Best Friends was good...but far from essential to the card. Did they really need to announce the Women Of Honor Title tonight? ROH/SBG/Delirious continue trying to cram too many matches and too many guys onto every PPV, allowing match quality to suffer as a result. To talk about the positives - there were some really great undercard matches. Taven/Ospreay was a super opener. Marty and Lethal stole the show with a blend of fine wrestling and clever story-telling. Silas has been one of the most consistent and enjoyable performers all year - and he ends 2017 as TV Champion. The Six-Man Title Match delivered everything you wanted from it. And the Briscoes vs Bully/Dreamer match blew me away. I came in expecting to hate it - but wound up absolutely loving it. Once again, the quality inside the ropes saves the show...and yet once again the way management continues to damagingly sabotage Ring Of Honor's presentation is a complete distraction from the quality of the wrestling. In truth that main event, and the lay-out of this show, is a microcosm of ROH in 2017. 

3) Young Bucks/Adam Page vs Flip Gordon/Dragon Lee/Titan (****)

2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Bully Ray/Tommy Dreamer (****)

1) Jay Lethal vs Marty Scurll (****)