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Final Battle (2021)

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Final Battle (2021)
Promotional poster featuring various ROH wrestlers
PromotionRing of Honor
DateDecember 11, 2021
CityBaltimore, Maryland
VenueChesapeake Employers Insurance Arena
Tagline(s)The End of an Era
Event chronology
← Previous
Death Before Dishonor 		Next →
Supercard of Honor
Final Battle chronology
← Previous
2020 		Next →
2022

The 2021 Final Battle was the 20th Final Battle professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). It took place on December 11, 2021 at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The event was billed as "The End of an Era", as it was the last Ring of Honor event to be held before the company went on hiatus, eventually resuming operations in April 2022.

11 matches were contested at the event, with three matches on the pre-show. In the main event, Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal to win the vacant ROH World Championship. In other prominent matches, Dragon Lee defeated Rey Horus, Shane Taylor defeated Kenny King by pinfall in a Fight Without Honor match, Rok-C defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the ROH Women's World Championship and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) defeated The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The event is also notable for the ROH return of Deonna Purrazzo, and the debuts of Adam Scherr, Westin Blake and the tag team FTR. As well as well wishes sent via pre-recorded message from ROH alumni Eddie Edwards, Moose, Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, Matt Hardy, Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, Colt Cabana, "Hangman" Adam Page, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, B. J. Whitmer, Adam Cole, The Young Bucks, and Bryan Danielson.

Production

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentators Ian Riccaboni
Caprice Coleman
Ring announcer Bobby Cruise
Backstage interviewer Denise Salcedo
Referees
Stephon Smith
Paul Turner
Mike Posey

Background

Final Battle is a professional wrestling event produced by Ring of Honor. First held in 2002, it is traditionally ROH's last show in the calendar year.[1] It is widely regarded as Ring of Honor's premiere flagship event, similar to WWE's WrestleMania.[2][3]

On October 11, 2021, ROH announced that Final Battle would be held at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on December 11.[4]

Storylines

The event featured eleven professional wrestling matches, which involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that play out on ROH's television programs. Wrestlers portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5]

At Death Before Dishonor, Rok-C defeated Miranda Alize in the finals of the Quest for Gold tournament to become the inaugural ROH Women's World Champion.[6] On the October 2 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Rok-C would have her first in-ring interview as champion, before being interrupted by Alize, Trish Adora, Willow Nightingale, Allysin Kay, and The Allure (Angelina Love and Mandy Leon). Seeing the talent in the ring, ROH Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett would make two three-way matches, with the winners facing off in a #1 contender's match the week before Final Battle. The winner of that match will go onto the event to face Rok-C for the ROH Women's World Championship.[7] The following week, Willow bested Love and Alize in the first match to advance to the #1 contender's match.[8] On November 20, Leon defeated Kay and Adora in the second match.[9][10] On December 4, Willow defeated Leon,[11] thus making her Rok-C's challenger at Final Battle.[12]

On the February 27 "Championship Edition" of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Rush defeated Shane Taylor to retain the ROH World Championship thanks to a chair shot from Rush's stablemate Kenny King.[13] King and Taylor were old friends and also former partners in The Rebellion stable with Caprice Coleman and Rhett Titus. Seeing this as an act of betrayal, Taylor would begin a long-running feud with King, which would extend to a stable rivalry between Shane Taylor Promotions and La Facción Ingobernable. At Death Before Dishonor, STP were scheduled to defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against LFI's King, Dragon Lee, and La Bestia del Ring (who replaced Rush due to injury). Before the bell rang, King repeatedly struck Taylor with a steel chair, rendering him unable to compete and leaving O'Shay Edwards to take his place. By the end of the match, Taylor returned to give King a chair shot of his own, allowing STP to retain the titles.[6] On the November 12 edition of ROH's weekly web news article Eck's Files by Kevin Eck, it was announced that Shane Taylor and Kenny King will have a one-on-one grudge match at Final Battle.[14][15] On the December 7 edition of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that this match would turn into a Fight Without Honor, courtesy of the ROH board of Directors.[16]

On October 4, former ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham announced his entry into the ROH World Championship picture.[17] This transition was hinted at the end of Death Before Dishonor, when Gresham and The Foundation arrived after Bandido's title defense against Brody King, Demonic Flamita, and EC3; where Gresham would shake Bandido's hand.[6] At Honor for All, Gresham defeated No. 1 contender King, allowing him to advance to Final Battle and challenge Bandido for the ROH World Championship.[18] However, on December 9. it was announced that Bandido tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he would be taken off the card.[19] To replace him, two-time ROH World Champion and new All Elite Wrestling signee Jay Lethal, whose loyalty to The Foundation has been question after Vincent showed a clip of Lethal saying "I don't even like The Foundation", will now wrestle Gresham at Final Battle.[20] At the event, it was announced that this match will be for the now vacated ROH World Championship, represented by the original title belt.

On the November 18 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Brian Johnson officially entered the ROH Pure Championship division, winning a Pure Rules gauntlet match by last eliminating LSG via a dirty pinfall.[21] Johnson would continue to bend the pure wrestling rules in matches against his former mentor P. J. Black[22] and John Walters,[9] before he would eventually become the No. 1 ranked contender. With his new position in the rankings, Johnson faced Pure Champion Josh Woods at Final Battle.

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes[30]
1The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch) (with Vita VonStarr) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Kaun, Moses and O'Shay Edwards) (with Ron Hunt) (c) by pinfallSix man tag team match for the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship[23]10:00
2Miranda Alize and The Allüre (Angelina Love and Mandy Leon) defeated Chelsea Green and The Hex (Allysin Kay and Marti Belle) by pinfallSix-woman tag team match[24]6:50
3P. J. Black, Flip Gordon, Brian Milonas, Beer City Bruiser, and World Famous CB defeated LSG, Sledge, Max the Impaler, Demonic Flamita, and Will Ferrara (with Amy Rose) by pinfall10-man tag team match10:20
4Dragon Lee defeated Rey Horus by pinfallSingles match[25]11:20
5Rhett Titus defeated Dalton Castle (c), Silas Young and Joe Hendry by pinfallFour Corner Survival match for the ROH World Television Championship[26]8:15
6Josh Woods (c) defeated Brian Johnson by technical submissionPure Wrestling Rules match for the ROH Pure Championship[27]12:58
7Shane Taylor defeated Kenny King by pinfallFight Without Honor[16]18:00
8Rok-C (c) defeated Willow Nightingale by pinfallSingles match for the ROH Women's World Championship[12]9:50
9VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, and Tony Deppen), and Rocky Romero (with Chris Dickinson) defeated EC3, Eli Isom, Taylor Rust, and Tracy Williams by pinfallEight-man tag team match[28]14:45
10The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) defeated The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) (c) (with Maria Kanellis-Bennett) by pinfallTag team match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship[29]15:40
11Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal by submissionSingles match for the vacant ROH World Championship[20]15:35
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

References

  1. ^ DeRosenroll, Mike (December 19, 2009). "DeRosenroll's Classic ROH Feuds: History of "Final Battle" ROH World Title matches (2002–2005)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 5, 2011. Final Battle has been the name of the last ROH show of each year since the promotion started in 2002
  2. ^ "December 28th Newswire". Ring of Honor. 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2013-10-28. The ROH athletes put it all on the line at the biggest event of the year. Replays of the iPPV broadcast of "Final Battle 2011" are available here.
  3. ^ "Final Battle 2012: Doomsday- New York, NY 12/16/12 (DVD)". Ring of Honor. Retrieved 2013-10-28. Ring of Honor closes out 2012 with the biggest event of the year...
  4. ^ ROH Staff (October 11, 2021). "Final Battle Pay-Per-View Set For Saturday, Dec. 11 In Baltimore". Ring of Honor. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  5. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR RECAP: BANDIDO BEATS THE ODDS, RETAINS ROH WORLD TITLE IN FOUR-WAY ELIMINATION MATCH; NEW WOMEN'S DIVISION AND PURE CHAMPIONS CROWNED". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  7. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: VIOLENCE UNLIMITED PREVAILS IN WILD EIGHT-MAN TAG OVER PCO, DANHAUSEN, SLEDGE, DEMONIC FLAMITA". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: OGK BEATS BANDIDO AND HORUS; WILLOW WINS TRIPLE THREAT CONTENDERS MATCH". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "ROH TV RECAP: DALTON CASTLE BEATS DRAGON LEE TO WIN ROH WORLD TELEVISION TITLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "ROK-C TO DEFEND ROH WOMEN'S WORLD TITLE AGAINST WILLOW OR MANDY LEON AT FINAL BATTLE: END OF AN ERA". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  11. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: WILLOW WINS NO. 1 CONTENDER'S MATCH; BANDIDO, REY HORUS TOP PJ BLACK, FLIP GORDON IN IMPROMPTU TAG MATCH". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "ROH WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPION ROK-C VERSUS WILLOW SET FOR FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: RUSH RETAINS ROH WORLD TITLE THANKS TO KENNY KING; KING AND DRAGON LEE WIN WORLD TAG TITLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  14. ^ "ECK'S FILES: SHANE TAYLOR, KENNY KING FACE OFF IN GRUDGE MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE; LUFISTO GUESTS ON ROHSTRONG PODCAST". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  15. ^ "SHANE TAYLOR GETS LONG-AWAITED OPPORTUNITY FOR VENGEANCE AGAINST KENNY KING AT FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "SHANE TAYLOR-KENNY KING MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE WILL NOW BE A FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "BREAKING NEWS: JONATHAN GRESHAM ENTERING ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION". Ring of Honor. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "JONATHAN GRESHAM GETS HIS SHOT AT ROH WORLD CHAMPION BANDIDO AT FINAL BATTLE". Ring of Honor. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  19. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (December 9, 2021). "Bandido Tests Positive For COVID, ROH Final Battle Match To Change". Fightful. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "JAY LETHAL RETURNING TO FACE JONATHAN GRESHAM AS PART OF DOUBLE MAIN EVENT AT FINAL BATTLE: END OF AN ERA!". Ring of Honor. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  21. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: BRIAN JOHNSON STEALS PURE GAUNTLET; MIKE BENNETT BESTS RHETT TITUS BY SPLIT DECISION IN PURE MATCH". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "ROH TV RECAP: BRODY KING PREVAILS IN ALL-STAR FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "SHANE TAYLOR PROMOTIONS PUTS ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TITLE ON THE LINE AGAINST THE RIGHTEOUS AT FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  24. ^ "THE ALLURE AND MIRANDA ALIZE COLLIDE WITH CHELSEA GREEN AND THE HEX IN SIX-WOMAN TAG MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  25. ^ "DRAGON LEE, REY HORUS MEET AT FINAL BATTLE IN REMATCH OF INSTANT CLASSIC TV BOUT". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  26. ^ "DALTON CASTLE TO DEFEND WORLD TV TITLE IN FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE AGAINST RHETT TITUS, SILAS YOUNG, RETURNING JOE HENDRY". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  27. ^ "BRIAN JOHNSON CHALLENGES JOSH WOODS FOR PURE TITLE AT FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  28. ^ "VIOLENCE UNLIMITED CLASHES WITH TRACY WILLIAMS, ELI ISOM, TAYLOR RUST IN SIX-MAN TAG MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE". ROH Wrestling. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  29. ^ "BRISCOES SEEK 12TH ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE WHEN THEY FACE NEW CHAMPS OGK AT FINAL BATTLE". Ring of Honor. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  30. ^ Powell, Jason (December 11, 2021). "ROH Final Battle results: Powell's live review of Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven vs. Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe for the ROH Tag Titles, Rok-C vs. Willow for the ROH Women's World Championship, Josh Woods vs. Brian Johnson for the ROH Pure Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
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