Ring of Honor in recent memory has gone through a lot of controversies. In terms of the product itself, the in-ring action is still top-notch in the minds of many wrestling fans. ROH recently ended the calendar year off with one of their biggest shows, Final Battle. In this show, we saw multiple title matches and they could impact the company going into 2020.
Dragon Lee defeats Shane Taylor for Ring of Honor Television Championship
Dragon Lee recently made an appearance for NJPW under the name of Ryu Lee and he was in a match at Final Battle. Lee faced off against heavyweight monster Shane Taylor in a brutal match. It ended up being a major upset as Dragon Lee won the Television title for the first time. Dragon Lee continues with ROH, as both he and RUSH are signed to contracts. Lee will also be making an appearance in the second night of NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 14. He will take part in the final match in the historic career of Jushin Thunder Liger, looking to bring even more legitimacy to the ROH Television Championship.
New ROH World Television Champion @dragonlee95! #FinalBattle pic.twitter.com/YVKaVE9VAl
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 14, 2019
Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham defeat The Briscoes for ROH Tag Team Championships
In the co-main event of the evening, we had a tag title defense from the 11 time champions The Briscoes against Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal. Lethal and Gresham had a remarkable feud this year based around outdoing each other and beautiful technical wrestling. It featured many great bouts, eventually leading these two into becoming a tag team. Both men are favorites among the roster, but more of determined attitude was something that that Lethal and Gresham needed. In a wonderful match at Final Battle, Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham won the ROH World Tag Team titles for the first time as a team. Winning this championship makes Jay Lethal a Triple Crown champion. He’s held the World Title, Television Title and now the ROH World Tag Team Titles. Jonathan Gresham, on the other hand, picks up his first title in ROH after having two years of no success.
New ROH World Tag Team Champions @TheLethalJay @TheJonGresham! #FinalBattle pic.twitter.com/Hg5iEF0zWX
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 14, 2019
PCO defeats Rush to become ROH World Champion
The main event scene of ROH is just astounding to how you compare how it started to how it ended this year. Two of the major stories that defined 2019 was the rise of both RUSH and PCO. RUSH would make his debut for the company earlier this year and dominate the singles division, defeating former World Champion Dalton Castle. He would gain a winning streak, being heavily dominant in the singles division which led him to defeat Matt Taven for the World Champion at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor in September. RUSH would bring Tranquilo worldwide by defending his title in the UK by defeating Jeff Cobb and Silas Young. PCO, on the other hand, was brought up in ROH’s Trios Division under the faction of Villain Enterprises. They won the trios title very early on with Marty Scurll and Brody King. PCO would continue to put his 51-year-old body on the line, leading into this major title match at Final Battle. PCO would go through a beating in this match against a wrestler who isn’t known for an extreme style.
AND NEW RING OF HONOR WORLD CHAMPION @PCOisNotHuman!!!! #FinalBattle pic.twitter.com/Fvwj4ZbFCX
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 14, 2019
This match felt equal, as this was hands down the biggest match RUSH had faced so far. PCO would dethrone RUSH to become ROH World Champion for the first time. PCO is officially the oldest ROH World Champion in history, and he still holds the trios titles with Villain Enterprises. PCO’s triumph would be the end to Final Battle.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world and make sure to watch the final replay here.
