ROH Final Battle 2016 Review: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly, Cody Rhodes Debuts
Follow along with our review of Friday night’s ROH Final Battle pay-per-view.
On Friday night, the ROH Final Battle pay-per-view would take place from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, NY. This venue is a well-known one to ROH as they have held plenty of big events here, including multiple Final Battle PPVs.
The main event of Final Battle would see long-time rivals Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly battle for the ROH World Championship. This would turn into a No Disqualification match, an announcement made just as the bout began. It would turn into a blood-filled wrestling contest with these two destroying each other with objects and tacks. Would O’Reilly finally get his crowning moment, though?
The Young Bucks would defend the ROH World Tag Team Championship against the Briscoes. This would be a battle of two of the promotion’s top tag teams, which would, as expected, be full of superkicks. Did this lead to Matt and Nick Jackson retaining the belts?
Cody Rhodes (under the name “Cody”) would make his promotional debut at ROH Final Battle. His opponent would be Jay Lethal, who had his year-plus world title reign end just a few months ago. This pitted two of independent wrestling’s top stars against each other, but who would come out on top?
Also see was a high-flying ROH World TV Championship match, inaugural champions crowned, and Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle. These highlighted what turned out to be a fun PPV.
With this in mind, follow along with us as we review ROH Final Battle!
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The Motor City Machine Guns and Donovan Dijak vs. The Rebellion
Result: The Rebellion defeated the Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
A few cool spots here, including a dive from Dijak at ringside. Other than that, there hadn’t been much to take away from this match.
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Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Silas Young
Result: Silas Young defeated Jushin Thunder Liger via pinfall.
Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
A solid match here between Young and Liger. A bit surprising here that Young got the clean win as the long-time NJPW star usually goes over in undercard bouts like this. However, Young gets the nod here and will go into the next set of ROH episodes with some momentum.
This doesn’t really hurt Liger given his decades of experience. He’ll be back for more in ROH sooner than later.
Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle
Result: Dalton Castle defeated Colt Cabana via pinfall.
Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
Castle arrived into this match on a chariot with the Boys bringing him in. It can’t get more Dalton Castle-esque than that.
Cabana played the heel role very well, making Castle look like a terrific underdog babyface. He played with the crowd and got some heat out of it. Someone even tried starting a “CM Punk” chant at him, but it got shut down by boos. Cabana also did a random Ric Flair strut during the match, which got a few cheap “WOOOOOs”.
Castle showed off some impressive strength here. This includes the Deadlift German suplex, which can’t be easy on a pretty big Cabana. He pulled off other feats throughout the match, which got the fans on his side.
Credit: Cody Rhodes Facebook, Ring of Honor
Addiction Promo
Before the match started, the Addiction came out to cut a promo on Jay Lethal and Cody. They put over Lethal and called him one of the greatest ROH world champions ever. Christopher Daniels brought up Dusty Rhodes, how he inspired him to wrestle, and what he could have done for his own son. Daniels says, Cody has to go through Lethal, him, and Frankie Kazarian. The Addiction then say they are doing guest commentary.
Safe to say these guys are going to get involved in the match.
Cody vs. Jay Lethal
Result: Cody Rhodes defeated Jay Lethal via pinfall.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Well, this certainly will have people talking.
As noted, the Addiction entered the ring to give a promo and go on commentary. There didn’t seem to be much to this at first, but given what happened at the match’s end, something else is probably in store with them.
Lethal and Cody put on a very fun match. It may have been my favorite match of the former’s too, even including WWE. The Battleground 2013 match with the Shield comes close, but in singles bouts, this may have been at the top. Probably helps that the company isn’t around to limit his move set too.
The finish saw Lethal and the referee bump heads. With the official distracted, Cody decided to kick the former ROH World Champion below the belt, hit Cross Rhodes, and got the win. This led to a loud “f–k you, Cody” chant as he trashed ringside and pushed down commentator Steve Corino.
Clearly, Cody is going to return to ROH at some point, maybe for Saturday’s TV taping. He could go into an extended program with Lethal and even do something with Corino, who could be heading for WWE.
Friday night started things off well for Rhodes, who is continuing to light up the independent scene.
ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship Tournament FinalsLio Rush, Jay White, and KUSHIDA vs. The Kingdom
Result: The Kingdom defeated Lio Rush, Jay White, and KUSHIDA via pinfall to win the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
This match became the redemption of Matt Taven, the new leader of the Kingdom. He tore up his knee one year prior at Final Battle 2015, and subsequently saw his stable fall apart. Adam Cole would moved onto the Bullet Club, and Maria and Mike Bennett are in TNA. So, Taven ended up recruiting TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia to join him.
Well, one year later, things have paid off for the new Kingdom as they are the first-ever six-man tag team champions in ROH. They should be able to walk into 2017 with the belts.
As for the other team, Rush and KUSHIDA looked like the stars of this match. Their high-flying moves were the most exciting part of this, which isn’t surprising, especially since Rush has become one of the top young stars in the wrestling business.
ROH World TV Championship MatchMarty Scurll (c) vs. Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee
Result: Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay and Dragon Lee to retain the ROH World TV Championship.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Bobby Fish had been expected to be part of this match, but had his mother recently pass away, so he would not be at ROH Final Battle. Our thoughts with him.
This match was an absolute spectacle. Scurll and Lee had some terrific moments getting as big of a stage as this. However, Ospreay stole the show. He got the chants, the shiny moves, and will be the one talked about after this one. Fans only got a taste of what the Aeriel Assassin could do here, and in a full-length match, he could do even more.
That had been the only issue here. This match seemed very short, likely being cut for time due to the Cody vs. Jay Lethal match and the two major title bouts still to come. If these guys got just three more minutes, this could have been a four-star match. For now, though, just a tick below does it justice.
How about a rematch?
Credit: Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship MatchThe Young Bucks (c) vs. The Briscoes
Result: The Young Bucks defeated the Briscoes to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
When will you ever find a bad tag match with the Young Bucks? How about the Briscoes? How about with both of these teams involved?
That was the case at ROH Final Battle as these top duos tore it up for about 20 minutes. The superkicks, the nods to former wrestlers (and Kevin Owens), and all the spots took over this match. The fans were into it, and they saw probably the best match so far of the evening.
However, after the pinfall, Broken Matt Hardy appeared on the big screen and got everyone riled up. He and Brother Nero (Jeff Hardy) challenged the Bucks to an ROH World Tag Team Championship match at an unknown time. This could be an incredible match, potentially at the 15th Anniversary Show in early 2017. How about as the main event?
Credit: Ring of Honor, Ricky Havlik
ROH World Championship MatchAdam Cole (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Result: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole via submission to win the ROH World Championship.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Finally, after multiple tries to do so, O’Reilly beat Cole, and on arguably ROH’s biggest stage at Final Battle. It took place in a bloody war of a match, which capped off the evening.
Minutes into the match, O’Reilly got busted open on his forehead. Blood covered his face for a few minutes before he got cleaned up a bit. Cole would later follow suit, but not before superkicking O’Reilly, who had a trash can around his head.
The highlight of this match saw the tacks being brought out by Cole. This eventually saw both men land onto them, including a Brain Buster to the Bullet Club member, which quickly led to the bout’s finish. It gave O’Reilly his first-ever ROH World Championship, which should begin a lengthy reign.
As for the overall match, it seemed to be missing something. While the No Disqualification stipulation seemed to have been done to highlight the possible end of a rivalry, it took away from the match. There were a bit too many spots with weapons, which took away from the in-ring showing. The crowd never seemed to get too into it either, something that could have been caused by fatigue too. That’s not to say it was a bad match, because it certainly succeeded. Compared to the tag and TV title bouts, though, this did not exceed it.
Also, let the Adam Cole-WWE rumors begin (if there are any legs to it). While this match gives no indication of his future, it’s certainly worth noting how often it’s brought up about the multi-time ROH champion leaving for greener pastures. Given how others like Roderick Strong and Kevin Owens have left for the Leader in Sports Entertainment, maybe Cole follows suit.
So, what did you think of the ROH Final Battle pay-per-view?
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