McXal's Reviews

This is our go-home show for Final Battle - ROH's biggest show of the year, the climax to the preceding twelve months of action and the last hoorah for the box office sensations in The Elite. At the centre of that is the World Title clash between Jay Lethal and Cody...and tonight they'll be on the same team in trios action. They join Dalton Castle to form the most unlikely of teams to face mutual enemies in The Kingdom. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Colt Cabana call the action in Pittsburgh, PA.

Flip is gearing up for the fight of his life when he faces Bully Ray at Final Battle. His preparations conclude this evening with a match against Bully's on again/off again ally and partner in Silas. It has become apparent that Silas and Bully don't get on overly well, but equally apparent that they share some mutual ideology - in particular a hatred of Flip Gordon. Can Young inflict serious injury before the PPV? Or can Gordon enter loaded with momentum with a victory over Bully's closest associate? This was actually scheduled to be a regular match, but Flip asked for it to be upgraded to 'I Quit' Rules to mirror what he'll be facing in New York.

Young sucker-punches Gordon to get us started. Flip is rattled but sensibly creates distance and starts peppering Silas with strikes. Springboard Spear knocks the Last Real Man out of the ring and sets up a tope suicida. Silas crawls for cover but keeps getting dumped into the barricades by the irate Flip. 450 Splash misses though, allowing Young to hit the Killer Combo. Flip NIPS UNDER a springboard lariat to the apron...then MOONSAULTS TO THE FLOOR! We pause for commercials and return with Gordon ferreting around under the ring to pull out a table. It causes enough of a delay for Young to recover, grab a chair and propel it into Gordon's face. He starts ramming the chair into the ribs of his rival...and opens it up for a facebuster on the chair as well. Flip refuses to quit...so Young hits the slingshot swinging neckbreaker. Gordon tries to retaliate with a pescado but EATS THE FLOOR! Ouch! Silas makes it even more personal by pulling out a Singapore cane and trying to recreate what we saw in the 2300 Arena a couple of weeks ago...but the sight of the stick enrages Flip and causes him to beat on Silas with a chair. Bully Ray chugs into the ring and starts choking Flip with a chain. SPEAR THROUGH THE TABLE from Silas to Flip! The match/segment ends at 08:49 (shown) with no winner...

Rating - *** - I spent most of this match thinking how much more enjoyable ROH's product in 2018 would have been if we'd have gotten a year-long Silas/Flip feud rather than Bully/Flip. They have genuine chemistry; the curmudgeonly Silas makes such a natural opponent for the carefree, effortless athleticism of a guy like Flip. Even under these circumstances and with another in the growing line of bizarre, weird and annoying Bubba Ray-influenced finishes, this match was GOOD. Violent in the right places, always exciting, well executed and a strong narrative - I could easily have watched more of this. It felt so much more like an authentic ROH experience than much of what Bully has done in his time with Ring Of Honor.

Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky arrive for an in-ring promo with the clock ticking down to Ladder War at Final Battle. The Briscoes ambush them before they can hit any of their catchphrases though. Jay calls them the 'OG's of Ladder War' and 'this whole damn company'...but that's about it before he and his brother are in turn jumped from behind by the Young Bucks. SCU and the Bucks tease a handshake so the Briscoes shove them together sparking a fight. The Bucks lay everyone out with Superkicks and try to get a ladder but get it booted into their faces. Meanwhile on the other side of the ring Sky KO's the Briscoes with a somersault plancha. The hectic scene ends with SCU climbing a ladder in the middle of the ring and raising their title belts.

We get clips of Global Wars 2018 Toronto, where Karen Q punches her ticket into the WOH World Title four corner match...then starts a chaotic four woman brawl with Sumie Sakai, Kelly Klein and Madison Rayne all involved.

Christopher Daniels gives an emotional, extended interview - beginning with the ironic acknowledgement that this is the third year in a row he has been involved in such a piece. He admits if he retired he'd be proud of his career and people would be unanimous in their praise...but he doesn't want to be forced out. In 2016 he was emotional over refusing to lose his grip on the Tag Titles as a symbol of his career longevity. In 2017 he was in tears thinking about what his career would mean if he couldn't include an ROH World Title reign as part of it. Now this year he is battling for the visceral permission to continue fighting at all. He wants more time to convince Joe Koff that he is a reformed character - and only a win over Marty Scurll and becoming #1 contender for the World Title can give him that at this point.

As this was taped before Survival Of The Fittest, The Kingdom don't come out with the Six-Man Title belts which they won back from Cody and the Bucks in Columbus. They are a common enemy of the team they oppose tonight. The Lethal/Castle/Cody trio has some incredibly complex and long-standing personal issues to work through if they are to pose a threat to the new Six-Man Champions. Lethal and Cody meet for the World Title a week from now...and have been at odds stretching back to Final Battle 2016 when Rhodes debuted. How can they coexist given all they have been through? And how can Cody get along with Dalton, the man who beat him for the World Title last year at Final Battle? What is Castle's opinion of teaming with Lethal, the man who beat him in Fairfax to end his World Title reign? They do all agree that they hate Matt Taven though. Lethal objects to Taven calling himself the Real World Champion, Cody and Taven contested a feud earlier in the year that actually necessitated a First Blood Match, whilst Castle and Taven meet at Final Battle embroiled in a growingly personal rivalry themselves. This is an explosive situation and could ignite at any time...

Dalton is wrestling in his ugly Christmas sweater, presumably to cover the heavy brace he competes with. Cody forcibly tags Lethal out to prevent the champ from leading their team off...but turns his back on Castle who does the same to him and tackles O'Ryan with great force. Cody knocks Marseglia off the apron with the Disaster Kick then launches himself into a tope suicida which knocks Taven into the guardrail...but also knocks his own partner Lethal into the metal barrier too. Castle has to separate his partners as they look set to come to blows. They get back on the same page and try to isolate TK although at times Dalton has to act as the middle-man as Cody and Jay refuse to tag each other. Taven prevents Cody from hitting Cross Rhodes then gets a few cheap shots in on Castle as well. The Kingdom capture Rhodes...who again pointedly refuses to tag Lethal when he manages to escape. Taven trips Dalton to the floor and batters him into the guardrails before he can impact the match. Just The Tip almost decapitates the Peacock and draws Jay into the ring to break the pin. Sliding DDT by Castle, bringing in Lethal who starts beating up all three opponents single-handedly. Lethal Combination on O'Ryan! Taven teases defying the rules and trying to give Lethal a Con-Chair-To - but is stopped by a furious Dalton Castle who chases Taven out through the crowd. Ace Crusher by Lethal! ACID DROP by Vinny! Lethal looks for the Injection on TK...only to find him gone as Cody tries to roll him up instead. Superkick by Lethal BARELY misses Cody's face! House Of 1000 Horses blocked. CROSS RHODES! Cody pins TK at 12:32 (shown)

Rating - *** - This had a lot of quality as a go-home match for a pay-per-view, yet still remained entertaining in its own right. That can be a tough line to walk at times, so credit to all six for getting the balance just about right here. The Castle/Taven and Lethal/Cody rivalries were given plenty of airtime - but mostly in smart, logical ways entirely in keeping with the match as it played out. The way Cody and Lethal deliberately teased and hinted at dissension without ever veering into the camp or pantomimish was especially skilful. 

Tape Rating - *** - On the whole this felt like a rather strong go-home episode for a PPV. Crucially they put together a whole episode of good in-ring content to go around the interview segments, promos and video packages for Final Battle...instantly making this perhaps the best episode from the taping. Silas/Flip is genuinely very good, even when you consider the outrageously confusing conclusion. The main event isn't a classic by any means, but cleverly upped the stakes for multiple Final Battle encounters too. The Daniels interview segment and in-ring brawl between SCU, the Briscoes and the Bucks were strong pieces of television in their own right...and ensured that almost all of the major bouts at the PPV got some build.