(SPOILER): And the Winner of the Sea of Honor Tournament Is…

Flip Gordon!

https://twitter.com/TheFlipGordon/status/1057680720804614145

In July, Ring of Honor announced that they had signed the 26-year-old Flip Gordon to an exclusive contract that would keep him with the promotion through 2020. With ROH still reeling from their latest talent losses to WWE and perhaps in anticipation of more to come in 2019, the company really began investing in new talent, of which Gordon is at the top of the list. With an immense skill set and a level of star power already behind him due to his association with the Elite (Kenny Omega, Cody, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll and the Young Bucks – Matt and Nick Jackson), it’s no surprise that Ring of Honor is seemingly backing Flip Gordon as one of the next big things in the company.

ROH had this to say about his signing:

“Ring of Honor is thrilled to announce the signing of Travis “Flip” Gordon to an exclusive contract! One of the hottest prospects in wrestling, Gordon made his initial mark at a ROH tryout camp before getting an opportunity on Ring of Honor television. From there, the high-flying Gordon impressed the ROH Board of Directors and earned a contract.

Gordon comes to ROH serving as an active member of the Army National Guard. Born in Boston, MA, Gordon was raised in Kalispell, MT where he was a four-time state champion wrestler. Gordon has become a can’t miss prospect in large part because of his aerial offense, part of which was developed years before he ever stepped in the ring when he was a gymnast and mascot Cecil the Cardinal at Northern Idaho College!

His athleticism served him well following a 2014 move to Boston where he enrolled in the New England Pro Wrestling Academy, where he was trained by former Top Prospect Tournament competitor Brian Fury. In that time, Gordon became a C4 and explosives expert as a combat engineer.

Just two years since his first match, Gordon’s meteoric rise and innovative offense has made him one of the hottest free agent in the world. Ring of Honor is thrilled to welcome Flip Gordon to the ROH Roster!”

In fact, it wasn’t long after signing his contract that Flip Gordon received the biggest opportunity in his career as he faced Nick Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Of course, this was mainly storyline dictated as the entire reason Gordon received the title shot was due to the ongoing angle of him trying to get booked for All In and being rebuffed at every turn. So while he received the match because of being in the right place at the right time, Gordon certainly earned the respect of Aldis and Cody (if he hadn’t had it already) in the process.

There will be another day for Flip Gordon. #tenpoundsofgold #HonorForAll pic.twitter.com/wv2M6mIaPh

— Nick Aldis (@RealNickAldis) July 21, 2018

And while things looked bleak for Gordon’s chances at All In, he didn’t give up trying and neither did Brandi Rhodes or the Young Bucks, who were determined to get him on the show. September 1 arrived and Gordon still wasn’t booked but he did have his All Out Party which was a huge success. A few hours later, after Gordon took off his mask and revealed himself to not be the Son of Chico but rather himself, the 26-year-old eliminated Bully Ray to win the Over Budget Battle Royal and with it, his first opportunity at the Ring of Honor World Championship.

Again, Flip Gordon was unsuccessful in his pursuit but once again, he continued to earn the respect of his colleagues for the match. Lethal, who made Gordon look like a million bucks, gave the young wrestler a ton of praise following the match and even came to his aid when Bully Ray attacked Gordon with his chain. This was to continue the feud that Gordon and Ray have been embroiled in for months and one that is still active. Just this past round of TV tapings, Gordon took 10 lashes with a singapore cane courtesy of Ray. Again though, Gordon’s willingness to tough it out certainly earned the just-under three-year pro a lot of locker room kudos.

While Ray is not yet in Gordon’s rearview mirror, when it came time for the Sea of Honor tournament, Gordon was focused on one thing and one thing only: winning another shot at Lethal’s belt.

In his first round matchup, Gordon defeated Silas Young, someone he’s also had recent history with due to Young’s alliance with Bully Ray.

In what can be surmised from Gordon’s above tweet showing him flipping onto his opponent, his next round victory came over Marty Scurll. This one must have been fun given Scurll and Gordon’s relationship, which had been one of the stories of Being the Elite recently. Much like Cody, Scurll hated Gordon’s guts. That was until the Bucks made Scurll, who owed them a favor, accompany Gordon on his first excursion to New Japan Pro Wrestling. “Marty and Flip Take Japan” was a great BTE segment and it even evolved into “Marty and Flip take Australia.” Somewhere along the line, these two became friends. But a Villain never changes his stripes so it will be interesting to see what tricks Scurll had up his sleeves for this second round match.

“One is a Villain and the other one does flips, you know they can’t stand each other. It’s Marty and Flip take Japan!”

— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) May 30, 2018

Kudos to cruise-goers as the entire rundown of the tournament has been tough to find, but based on the brackets, that would have meant that next up for Gordon was either Dalton Castle, BJ Whitmer, Christopher Daniels or Delirious. A victory in any of those matches, especially against Daniels or Castle, two former ROH champs, would have certainly been a huge one for Gordon (UPDATE: Gordon defeated Castle to advance to the finals). On the other half of the bracket, Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe reportedly met in the semifinals which saw Jay win to book his match with Gordon. As much as people may have been rooting for Briscoe/Lethal III (this would have been their third match with the world title on the line), Gordon was the one who emerged victorious.

Gordon will take on Lethal, or whoever the current champ is, at a date still to be determined. However, that’s not all. Gordon is also one of the eight competitors in this Sunday’s Survival of the Fittest tournament, where if he wins, he’ll earn a second world title shot.

2019 could very well be, the year of Flip Gordon.

The entire Sea of Honor tournament, as well as the Alpha Club (Chris Jericho and the Young Bucks) vs Bullet Club (Cody, Kenny Omega and Marty Scurll) match, will be available for viewing, November 3rd at 8 PM through the FITE TV app. The iPPV, titled Streaming for Vengeance, costs $24.99 to purchase.