December 23rd, 2011 in New York City
Jim Cornette, Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly, Cary Silken, and Joe Koff welcome us to the show. Talk about an interesting group of people. Cornette announces that this is the biggest live crowd in Ring of Honor history. Additionally, more people will watch this event live than any other event in ROH history. Koff gives a little speech and the New York City crowd actually gets behind him. Now I’ve seen everything.
Opening Match: Michael Elgin vs. TJ Perkins
Elgin asserts his power advantage early on. Perkins sends him to the floor with a crossbody. He tries a dive from the apron but Elgin catches him and rams him into the barricade. Elgin takes control in the ring until Perkins snaps off a crazy headscissors out of nowhere. Perkins lands a dive to the floor and connects with a missile dropkick back in the ring. He lands a corkscrew senton and goes up top. Perkins leaps off the top rope but Elgin catches him in a suplex position and hits a uranagi. That was awesome. Elgin hits a backbreaker followed by a torture rack backbreaker. Perkins responds with a neckbreaker but falls victim to a bucklebomb. He’s able to counter a powerbomb into a reverse hurricanrana for a nearfall. They trade strikes and Elgin hits another bucklebomb. Elgin follows with a spinning powerbomb for the win at 7:34. Honestly, I thought this was the perfect opener in that they did enough to get the crowd excited but not enough to burn the crowd out. The many ways in which Elgin can hit his power moves are unreal and there were some spots in this match that I’ve never seen before. Maybe I’m gushing over this match too much, but I thought these two had great chemistry together and this was an excellent way to start the show. ***
Match #2: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jimmy Rave
They begin with some chain wrestling and Ciampa connects with a lariat. The action goes to the floor where they exchange chops around ringside. Prince Nana provides a distraction, allowing Ciampa to hit a chinbreaker in the ring. He connects with a facewash knee strike and takes over. Rave finds an opening to apply a heel hook but Ciampa reaches the bottom rope. Rave misses a baseball slide and Ciampa elevates him into the barricade. Rave recovers with a shining wizard and hits the Rave Clash for a nearfall. He goes for Greetings From Ghana but Prince Nana jumps on the apron holding the original Embassy robe that Rave used to wear. The distraction allows Ciampa to hit Project Ciampa for the victory at 8:31. Rave received a solid reaction but aside from a few classic moves from him, this match wasn’t very memorable. They wrestled a fine match for eight minutes and then the finish just took the wind out of everyone’s sails. Given the amount of history surrounding this contest, I thought a lot more could have been done with it. **
Match #3: ROH World Television Title: Elimination: Jay Lethal © vs. El Generico vs. Mike Bennett
Maria Kanellis is in Bennett’s corner. The crowd chants “CM Punk” and “sloppy seconds” at him. Bennett stays at ringside and leaves his opponents to battle it out. He sneaks into the ring and attacks both of them from behind. They corner him and take turns punching and chopping him. Generico and Lethal have a disagreement over who should dive onto Bennett. They settle for stereo dives. In the ring, Lethal snaps off a headscissors on Generico and connects with a basement dropkick. Bennett blocks a springboard maneuver by Lethal and starts working over Generico. Lethal connects with a springboard dropkick on Generico after Bennett gets sent to the outside. Generico hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Lethal but Bennett sends him to the floor. Generico reenters the ring with a flying crossbody onto Lethal. They trade strikes and Generico snaps off a few armdrags. He connects with corner punches on Bennett and Lethal adds a basement dropkick. Generico overhead suplexes Lethal into the turnbuckles. Brutal Bob interjects himself and Generico punches him out. Bennett sneaks in a punch on Generico and hits a powerslam on Lethal. He follows with a TKO on Generico, who responds with a yakuza kick. Lethal superkicks Generico and all three men are down. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination on Generico for a nearfall. Bennett plants Lethal with a spinebuster for a two count. Generico hits a michinoku driver on Bennett but gets caught by an enzuigiri from Lethal. Lethal goes up top but Generico yakuza kicks him to the floor. Generico lands a rope-to-rope springboard dive onto Lethal and then jumps through the middle and bottom rope to plant Bennett with a tornado DDT. In the ring, Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick and hits a half nelson suplex on Bennett for a nearfall. Lethal lays out Generico with a neckbreaker and connects with a flying elbow drop for a two count. Lethal goes up top again but Generico gives chase and teases a turnbuckle brainbuster. Bennett rolls up Generico while holding his tights to eliminate him. Lethal quickly hits an ace crusher on Bennett to retain his title at 18:14. The early portion of this match didn’t work for me as it never really felt like a triple threat match with someone always on the floor regrouping. However, the action picked up significantly as the match progressed. I think everybody was expecting the worst when Bennett eliminated Generico, so Lethal’s quick elimination of Bennett was a nice surprise. There were also quite a few believable nearfalls as I kept wondering how long it would take for the first elimination to happen. We could have been looking at something here if it wasn’t for the slow and uninspiring first half. **¾
Match #4: No Disqualification: Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino
Jimmy Jacobs is the special referee. Jim Cornette and Cary Silken are at ringside. If Steen wins, he will return to Ring of Honor. If Corino wins, Steen must leave Ring of Honor forever. Steen makes his entrance through the crowd. They charge at each other and trade punches. Corino connects with a leg lariat. He misses a baseball slide and Steen throws him into the barricade. Steen hits a cannonball on the apron, sending Corino into the ringpost. Corino immediately responds with a dive off the apron. He sends Steen into the barricade and brings a few chairs into the ring. Steen superkicks a chair into Corino’s face and hits a powerbomb onto the apron. Steen lands a frog splash off of the apron. He grabs a piece of the barricade and rams Corino in the head with it. Steen powerbombs Corino onto the edge of the barricade which also had a chair on it. He now props a table in between the apron and the barricade. Corino connects with a lariat and grabs more chairs as well as a garbage can. Steen hits him with the garbage can lid and follows with his front flip leg drop. Corino is now busted open above the left ear. He low blows Steen and hits him with the garbage can repeatedly. Corino hits a suplex onto the garbage can and lands a top rope splash. He props the barricade on top of four chairs. They battle up top and CORINO HITS A SUPERPLEX ONTO THE BARRICADE!! That only gets a two count. Silken and Cornette are livid at ringside. Steen sets up a pyramid of chairs on top of the propped table. They battle up top again. Corino hits Steen with a garbage can lid and he goes crashing through the table. In the ring, Steen hits a sleeper suplex followed by his pumphandle neckbreaker onto a propped chair. Corino spits at Steen, who waffles him in the head with a chair shot for a nearfall. Steen attempts another chair shot but Jacobs takes the chair away. Corino punches Steen with a roll of quarters for a two count. They battle on top of four propped chairs. Steen hits a package piledriver through the chairs. Jacobs reluctantly counts to three and Steen wins at 23:08. There’s a lot of things that can be said about this match. I’ll be the first to admit that some of the big spots were dangerous and there will be a lot of people that view this match as bad for professional wrestling. However, I’ll also admit that Steen and Corino left everything in the ring and put on a spectacle. Once again, whether it’s the right kind of spectacle is up for debate, but I thought this was an excellent weapons-based brawl. I’m glad that the finish wasn’t overbooked and that these two were allowed to settle their score without any interference. It’s quite possible that my thoughts on this match will change next time I watch it, but my first impression was that this was a fitting end to the Steen/Corino rivalry. ***½
Steen gets on the microphone: “Merry Christmas the devil is back. I came here tonight to do three things. Number one was to destroy Steve Corino and win my job back…check. Number two…” Steen plants Jacobs with a package piledriver. He looks at Cornette and holds up three fingers. El Generico runs into the ring as the crowd erupts. Steen and Generico start brawling. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick. Steen fights off a top rope brainbuster and package piledrives Generico through a table at ringside. Steen celebrates in the ring and walks to the back as staff members come out to check on everyone.
Match #5: Gauntlet: Kenny King and Rhett Titus vs. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Harlem and Lance Bravado vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander
The winners will receive a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles. The Bravados start the match with Coleman and Alexander. The Bravados attack before the opening bell. Alexander takes them out with a dive. In the ring, Alexander hits a slingshot senton on Lance. Harlem low bridges Coleman to the floor and connects with a bicycle kick. The Bravados hit a double team ace crusher on Alexander and isolate him. He connects with an enzuigiri on Lance and hits a sit-out slam on Harlem. Coleman lands a nice moonsault to the floor onto Lance. In the ring, Alexander catches Harlem with a quick rollup to eliminate the Bravados. Future Shock are the next team to enter. O’Reilly connects with a series of strikes on Alexander and Cole adds a basement dropkick. Coleman blind tags into the match and catches O’Reilly with a nice leg lariat. Future Shock gain the advantage and work over Coleman. He rolls through a clothesline from O’Reilly and makes the tag. Alexander connects with an enzuigiri on O’Reilly and Coleman slams Cole across his knees. Coleman hurricanranas O’Reilly off the middle rope and Alexander follows with a frog splash for a nearfall. Cole blocks a dive from Coleman with an enzuigiri. Future Shock catch Alexander with stereo dropkicks and hit Ride the Lightning to eliminate Alexander and Coleman. The Young Bucks make their way to the ring. They spend too much time gloating and Cole takes them out with a dive. Cole falls victim to a sliced bread on the apron and Nick lands a frog splash onto him. The Young Bucks isolate Cole until he escapes a back suplex from Matt and makes the tag. O’Reilly hits a double dragon screw leg whip and hits an overhead suplex on Matt. He follows with rolling butterfly suplexes on Nick. Future Shock hit a DDT-german suplex combination on Matt for a nearfall. Nick plants O’Reilly with a slingshot facebuster but Cole takes him out with a wheelbarrow suplex into the apron. O’Reilly misses his dropkick from the apron and collides with the barricade. The Young Bucks connect with stereo superkicks on Cole and hit More Bang for Your Buck to eliminate Future Shock. The All Night Express come out as the last team. They dodge a plancha from Nick and throw Matt into the barricade. King lands a moonsault off the barricade onto Matt. Nick slams Titus’ left knee into the ringpost. The Young Bucks work over King until he hits an overhead suplex on Nick and tags in Titus. Titus tries to clean house but he can barely walk. He hits a rydeen bomb on Matt. King hits the Coronation on Nick but Matt DDTs him on the apron. Nick superkicks Titus’ bad leg but runs into a lariat. Matt applies a leg submission on Titus while Nick lands a 450 onto him. Titus has no choice but to tap out, giving the Young Bucks the victory at 28:54. The crowd still seemed to be coming back from intermission and weren’t very vocal for even the faster parts of this match. I’m not a big fan of gauntlets but I thought the storytelling throughout this one worked well. The Young Bucks and Future Shock had the best segment by far and I definitely support the Young Bucks earning a title shot. There was nothing spectacular about this match, but it didn’t feel like twenty-nine minutes and provided solid action for the most part. **½
Nick lands another 450 splash onto Titus after the match. King chases the Young Bucks away and checks on his injured partner.
Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness talk about Roderick Strong’s invitational challenge. Nigel reveals that Truth Martini didn’t want Strong to wrestle him. Strong and Martini make their way to the ring. Strong says that it’s sad he doesn’t have an opponent tonight. Martini counts to ten, waiting for an opponent to come out. When he’s about to reach ten, CHRIS HERO COMES OUT!! He gets a pretty good reception from the New York City crowd. This all leads to…
Match #6: Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero
Hero connects with a boot and hits a senton. He adds a flash kick and applies a cravate. Truth Martini hits Hero with the Book of Truth behind the referee’s back. Strong slams him across the apron and takes control. Hero comes back with an elbow and hits a powerslam. He connects with a dropkick through the ropes followed by a yakuza kick. Hero takes down Strong with a cravate suplex but gets caught by a knee strike. They battle up top and Strong drapes Hero across the top turnbuckle. Strong locks in the Stronghold but Hero fights off the hold. Hero hits a cravate neckbreaker and connects with a roaring elbow. Strong answers with an enzuigiri and hits a german suplex into the turnbuckle. He follows with a gutbuster and the Gibson Driver for a nearfall. They exchange chops and Hero connects with a roaring elbow. He lays in another one as well as a roaring mafia kick for a two count. Hero connects with the Deathblow but Martini breaks up the pin attempt. He boots Martini off the apron. Strong catches him off-guard with the Sick Kick for the win at 16:36. I thought that I was going to like this match a lot more than I did. Hero’s return should have been a huge deal and while the crowd was going crazy for his entrance, they seemed pretty quiet during the match. It makes me wonder if they’ve recovered from the Steen/Corino encounter before intermission. The match was going along fine and they started finding a rhythm down the stretch but Martini’s interference leading to the finish was lame. It also didn’t help that everyone saw the finish coming from a mile away. This match was far from a chore to watch but the action never really stood out either. **¾
Match #7: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
The crowd seems to be solidly behind the Briscoes. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team attack them with the titles before the opening bell. Haas back suplexes Jay across the barricade. Shelton suplexes Mark onto the entrance ramp. WGTT even utilize chairs on the outside. Shelton irish whips Mark into a chair shot from Haas. The champions are in total control as they continue their attack with chairs. The crowd has totally turned on them as well and with good reason. Jay is now busted open after a chair shot. WGTT sloppily execute a double team maneuver and the crowd violently chants at them. Mark shows some fight but Shelton plants him with a DDT. Jay connects with a superkick on Shelton and trades forearms with Haas. Mark spears Shelton and the Briscoes biel him across the ring. Jay takes off Shelton’s shirt, revealing taped ribs. Haas eventually tags into the match and hits a powerslam on Jay. WGTT hit an atomic drop-superkick combination on Jay for a nearfall. Jay flatlines Haas into the middle turnbuckle but gets caught by a dropkick from Mark. Mark hits an iconoclasm on Haas for a two count. Shelton prevents a spike Jay Driller. Haas hits rolling german suplexes on Jay. He applies the Haas of Pain but Mark breaks up the hold. Shelton tried to stop Mark and hurt his ribs. Paul Turner calls for help to check on Shelton and he gets helped to the back. Haas is alone in the ring with the Briscoes. Haas tries to fight back but accidentally takes out the referee. Shelton comes back out and brings a board into the ring. He hits Mark across the head with it. Jay superkicks Haas and the Briscoes follow with the doomsday device to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 21:39. This was an absolute disaster. I don’t know if the crowd was supposed to be cheering or booing WGTT early on and there was absolutely no structure to this match. In fact, I don’t understand the logic of letting this match take place after WGTT used all of the weapons before the official opening bell. I think this was the case of ROH not understanding its fan base because this contest fell flat on its face. I’m not crazy about the Briscoes winning the titles but I’m extremely thankful that the WGTT aren’t holding the belts. *½
Match #8: ROH World Title: Davey Richards © vs. Eddie Edwards
Dan Severn is in Edwards’ corner while Kyle O’Reilly and Tony Kozina are in Richards’ corner. Edwards charges at the opening bell with a yakuza kick. They trade strikes and Richards escapes an early dragon sleeper attempt. Neither man can gain a significant advantage on the mat. Richards connects with an Alarm Clock and applies a cloverleaf. Edwards hits an overhead suplex. The action goes to the floor where Richards connects with a yakuza kick. Edwards gets elevated into the apron and Richards punts him. Richards lands a dive to the floor and connects with a missile dropkick back in the ring. He hits an overhead suplex and takes control. Edwards finds an opening to synch in an achilles lock but Richards turns the hold into a small package for a two count. Edwards hits a sit-out gourdbuster and both men are down. Edwards blocks a handspring enzuigiri and throws Richards to the outside. He lands a moonsault off the apron. Back in, Richards avoids a flying double stomp but falls victim to a backpack chinbreaker. Edwards leaps off the middle rope with a lungblower and applies an STF. He starts stomping Richards head in. They exchange slaps to very little response from the crowd. Richards connects with a clothesline but Edwards is up! Fighting spirit baby! Richards lays in another clothesline and connects with a flying double stomp. They headbutt each other repeatedly and both men get sent to the floor after a suplex over the top rope. Apparently Kevin Kelly has never seen that spot before. That makes one of us. Both men struggle to make it back into the ring. They trade strikes in the corner and stare each other down. Richards connects with kawada kicks and Edwards slaps him repeatedly. Goody. Richards hits a saito suplex but Edwards immediately responds with one of his own. Richards hits another one…then Edwards does too. This is mind-numbing. Edwards hits a tiger suplex. Richards answers with a tiger suplex. They catch each other with strikes and fall to the canvas. Roderick Strong comes out and attacks Team Richards. Michael Elgin runs out to take care of Severn and everyone brawls around ringside. Severn picks up Truth Martini and carries him to the back. So we’re back to just Richards and Edwards. They exchange forearms and kicks. Edwards hits a tiger suplex into the turnbuckles. He snaps off a top rope hurricanrana, connects with a shotgun dropkick, and hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. Edwards locks in the dragon sleeper but Richards quickly escapes. He reapplies the hold and transitions into a tombstone. Edwards hits a 2k1 bomb for a two count. They battle up top and Richards hits a dragon suplex. They battle on the apron and Richards hits an exploder, sending Edwards to the floor. Richards follows with a tiger suplex on the apron. Edwards barely makes it back into the ring. Richards says “this ends now” and kicks Edwards in the head for a nearfall. He synchs in an ankle lock and punts Edwards in the head for a two count. Richards kicks him in the head three more times to retain his title at 41:09.
I don’t even know what to say. While I thought their match at Best in the World was slightly under expectations, I thought this match was a complete and utter disappointment. In fact, this contest nicely sums up my main complaint with Ring of Honor this year. I’m totally fine with a match lasting forty-one minutes if there’s a good reason for the long duration. However, this just felt like forty-one minutes of moves for the sake of moves. I had an impossible time trying to find a story that weaved through the entire match. Edwards’ dragon sleeper was a non-factor and I went into this encounter thinking that the dragon sleeper would be Edwards’ main strategy. Everything involving the House of Truth seemed convoluted and out of place. I guess my biggest complaint is that Richards hit a tiger suplex on the apron – a tiger suplex on the apron – and I thought nothing of it. If Ring of Honor thinks that this is the type of wrestling that everyone wants to see then I think (and I can only speak for myself) that they are greatly mistaken. **½
Richards gets on the microphone and talks about how much heart Edwards has. He tells Edwards that he will always be there for him. Kevin Steen interrupts and tells Richards to shut up. Steen says that what matters tonight is that he is back in ROH. He promises Richards that he will take his belt in 2012.
DVD Bonus:
– Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (from Ring of Honor Wrestling TV)
– World TV Title Match: Jay Lethal vs. El Generico (from Ring of Honor Wrestling TV)
– Raw footage of Generico being taken out of NYC in an ambulance (never aired on the iPPV)
– “Cornette’s Bargain”- Unedited segment from Ring of Honor Wrestling TV where Cornette/Corino and Steen come to terms with their Final Battle match
– Briscoe Goes Hollywood
– ROH Video Wire
Overall: I have been reviewing this show with the idea in mind that Ring of Honor claims that they are the best professional wrestling promotion in the world. They will tell you that every week on their television show. Final Battle 2011 was not how the best professional wrestling promotion in the world should end their year. The first half of the show made me hopeful with an effective opener, a decent Television Title match, and a great brawl between Kevin Steen and Steve Corino. However, the second half of the show was a disaster. Chris Hero’s return did not come off like a big deal, the ROH World Tag Team Title match was a mess, and the main event was forty-one minutes of mindless action. This was also an incredibly lengthy show that really started to wear on me during the final two matches. I cannot give this show a recommendation and while Steen’s promo to end the show was nice, I am not hopeful for ROH heading into 2012.