Ring of Honor Final Battle 2024 Results

The Ring of Honor Christmas-time tradition has returned!

• Jay Lethal vs. QT Marshall
• Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billingston
• Ring of Honor World TV Championship: Brian Cage (c) vs. Willie Mack vs. AR Fox vs. Blake Christian vs. Mark Davis vs. Komander
• Ring of Honor Pure Championship: Lee Moriarty (c) vs. ???
• Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship: The Sons of Texas (c) vs. The Righteous
• Ring of Honor Women’s World TV Title: Red Velvet (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch
• Ring of Honor World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Matt Cardona
• Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship: Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz

ROH Final Battle 2024

Live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York!

Match #1. Atlantis Jr. vs. Mansoor

Atlantis with a hammerlock and Mansoor traps the arm and rolls through for a two count. Leg lace by Atlantis but Mansoor chops his way out of it, which causes Atlantis to fall back into a figure four. Mansoor tries to rip the mask of Atlantis off, much to the crowd’s dismay. Clotheslines in the corner by Mansoor and some mounted posings. Again. A third time but Atlantis goes up an over and hits an enziguiri. Kick to the ribs and a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Two. Atlantis runs into a boot and Mansoor comes off the top, only to get caught with another backbreaker! Reverse crucifix driver by Atlantis! Two count. Atlantis goes up top but gets distracted by Mason and Mansoor brings him back in to the right with a Northern Lights off to the top. Mansoor misses a moonsault and Atlantis looks for a satellite DDT, but gets caught and driven into the turnbuckles with a Death Valley Driver. Moonsault by Mansoor gets a two count. Rebound release German suplex by Atlantis and a wheelbarrow buckle bomb! Atlantis goes up top and comes off with a frog splash but Mansoor gets the knees up and cradles him for two. Mansoor tries a springboard arm drag off the top but Atlantis counters with a cutter! Mansoor gets te foot on the rope. Madden eats an enziguiri AND DANHAUSEN IS HERE! Suicide dive by Atlantis takes out Madden after Danhausen curses him! Sunset flip catapults Mansoor onto Madden and a tope by Atlantis takes out everyone. Frog splash by Atlantis and this one is over.

Winner: Atlantis Jr.

Rating: ***. I’ll be honest, I did not have high expectations for this one but this was a fun opener. Atlantis looked very good here and the MxM Collections stuff is gold with the crowd. And a Danhausen return? I’m in.

Chris Jericho compares himself to Juan Soto, much to the dismay of the crowd. And then there’s a Lets Go Mets chant.

Match #2. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billington

Billington is able to keep up with Shibata in the grappling department to start. Shibata rolls to the outside and Billington follows with a suicide dive headbutt, but it’s a glancing blow. Shibata big boots Billington off the apron HARD and to the floor. Billington back in with a pair of snap suplexes but Shibata blocks a third with an STO. Running delayed dropkick in the corner by Shibata. Half-and-half suplex gets two, but Shibata transitions right into an arm bar. Now a triangle choke with a kimura trap. Billington barely makes it to the ropes. Shibata hits the ropes but runs into a shotgun dropkick and a running clothesline by Billington. Snap suplex by Billington. Billington goes up top and comes off with a shotgun dropkick and a kip up. Shibata rolls to the apron and Billington jumps over the ropes with a DDT! Billington rolls Shibata in and comes off the top with a diving headbutt to the sternum. Shibata counters a clothesline with an overhand right to the body before hopping on a rear naked choke. Billington goes out!

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata

Rating: **3/4. Fine match here and quite the learning experience for the young Tommy Billington.

Match #3. Jay Lethal vs. QT Marshall

Lethal is dressed as Black Machismo and QT is dressed as NWO Macho Man. Mega Powers handshake to start but QT pokes him in the eye. Hip toss and a dropkick by Lethal as he follows QT outside with a suicide dive. Lethal with some mounted punches in the corner but Aaron Solow provides a distracted and QT follows up with a tornado DDT. Shoulder blocks by Lethal now but QT counters a third attempt with a hot shot. QT tries an incredibly slow Lethal Injection and Lethal counters with a back suplex into a neckbreaker. Two count. Lethal looks for a shin breaker but Marshall fights his way out, momentarily, and now gets it. Figure four by Lethal! Solow pulls QT to the ropes and gets the break, so Lethal pulls him in. Sonjay Dutt is in now and he locks the figure four in on Solow! QT breaks it up and hits Sonjay with the cutter before rolling Lethal up for two. Lethal Combination by Lethal! Lethal heads up top for the Savage Elbow but QT distracts the referee and Solow crotches him. Karen Jarrett tries to slap Solow but Solow grabs her arm… and here’s Jeff Jarrett! Right hand by Jarrett and a guitar shot! Savage Elbow by Lethal! One, two, no! Crucifix by QT gets two. Lethal looks for the Lethal Injection but QT counters into the CrossRhodes! Two count. Pump kick by Lethal and an enziguiri. Pop up into an elbow by QT. Spring board by QT but it’s right into a cutter! Lethal Injection by Lethal is blocked and now QT hits one of his own! One, two, no! Both guys exchange elbow and trade cradles until QT walks into the Lethal Injection! A second one! One, two, three.

Winner: Jay Lethal

Rating: **3/4. Lots of chicanery in this one, and that’s okay. Jeff Jarrett got a great reaction, the Macho Man stuff was a lot of fun, and the wrestling wasn’t half bad. Did we have to protect QT with a pair of Lethal Injections for the win though?

Match #4. Ring of Honor Women’s World TV Championship: Red Velvet (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch

Red Velvet with a drop toe hold and Hirsch lands hard on her dislocated elbow. The referee calls for the doctor but Velvet doesn’t care and goes for the elbow anyway. Hirsch fights back and tosses Velvet with a Saito suplex, but Velvet pops up and hits a big spear for two. Arm ringer by Hirsch and another one into the buckles. Both women on the top rope now and Hirsch comes off the top with a swing out German suplex. Now one back in the ring. Two count. Both women trade right hands in the center of the ring and Velvet catches her with a drop toe hole into the middle rope. Hirsch is back with a powerbomb. Double jump springboard moonsault by Hirsch! Two count. PK to the elbow of Velvet. Sunset flip by Velvet gets two as both women go back and forth. PK by Hirsch! One, two, no. Straight armbar by Hirsch but Velvet counters into a deadlift powerbomb. Two count. PK by Velvet. Two count. Huge left hand by Velvet and Hirsch looks like she’s out. Dragon Sleeper by Velvet but Hirsch tries to snake eyes on the top turnbuckle, but it doesn’t look good. Stir it Up by Velvet gets two. Velvet goes underneath the ring and gets a turnbuckle piece, distracts the referee, and then knocks Hirsch out with a wrench for the win.

Winner and STILL ROH Women’s World TV Champion: Red Velvet

Rating: **1/4. This was… fine. There were a few awkward spots here but the fans just didn’t seem to care. Also, I hate to be this much of a critic but… Does Red Velvet really need to no-sell a Saito suplex and then get up and hit a spear like two minutes into the match? Why?

Match #5. Ring of Honor Pure Championship: Lee Moriarty (c) vs. NIGEL F’N MCGUINNESS

IT’S NIGEL! THIS ENTIRE PPV IS NOW WORTH IT. NIGEL MCGUINNESS IS BACK IN THE RING OF HONOR PURE DIVISION. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Nigel has the mic, everyone shut up. “OHHHH NIGEL MCGUINNESS” the fans chant. Nigel wants the old ROH Pure title rules. Shane Taylor grabs the mic and says “old.. old is right” and then runs down the Yankees and the Mets. Tiger style vs. tired style. “Just because you’ve got hair around your mouth is no excuse for talking like a _____.” Woof. Taylor says he is what he eats. Nigel says that makes him Lee Moriarty’s a hole. Yikes and double yikes. Moriarty accepts the terms and here we go. Both men trade arm ringers and Moriarty grabs a hammer lock, but Nigel reverses and forces Moriarty to use a rope break. That’s one. Both guys get tangled in the ropes and Nigel fakes a closed fist and that causes the ref to use a second rope break, but Shane Taylor demands a second referee… and we get one. Nigel quickly looks for London Dungeon but Moriarty transitions to a Border City Stretch and Nigel has to use a rope break. Nigel rolls outside and jaws with Taylor as Moriarty charges, but Nigel sends him in to Taylor and he almost gets the count out win. Running leg lariat in the corner by Moriarty and a belly-to-belly. Two count. Moriarty goes up top and Nigel trips out the legs. Tower of London! One, two, no! Rebound lariat by Nigel misses and Moriarty locks in the Border City Stretch. Moriarty steps on the hand of Nigel but Nigel still manages to get to the ropes. Clash of heads now and a rebound lariat by Nigel! One, two thr-no! Moriarty pulls Nigel into the middle turnbuckle and goes up top… but Nigel trips the legs out again. Another Tower of London! One, two, three! Wait, Moriarty’s foot was on the rope and the outside referee saw it. That’s the third rope break and both guys are now out of rope breaks. European uppercuts by Nigel and Moriarty responds with some of his own! London Dungeon attempts by Moriarty but Nigel frees himself and Moriarty is there with a rebound lariat of his own! Border City Stretch in the middle of the ring! Roll up by Nigel! One, two, no! Moriarty with a high angle Flatliner but Nigel’s foot is on the rope, but it doesn’t matter because Nigel is out of rope breaks! Nigel still gets out at two. Moriarty locks in the Border City Stretch and Nigel gets to the ropes, but Moriarty pushes off the bottom rope with his feet to add strain and Nigel taps!

Winner and STILL Ring of Honor Pure Champion: Lee Moriarty

Rating: ***3/4. Yeah this was awesome. Nigel was an outstanding surprise and Moriarty added to his impressive resume. Nigel also, by the way, looks fantastic and absolutely still has it.

After the match, Nigel holds up the ROH flag.

Match #6. Double Bull Rope Match: The Sons of Texas (c) vs. The Righteous

Dustin with some huge right hands and Sammy connects with a corkscrew plancha on the floor. Dutch with a huge plancha of his own! Double suplex by SOT and a moonsault by Guevara. Shining Wizard by Dustin! Now finally we get the bull ropes in the ring as Dustin and Dutch are ties together, and Sammy and Vincent pair off. Hockey fight! Double Shattered Dreams by SOT! Vincent grabs Dusty Rhodes bell, but Sammy catches him with a superkick. Dustin gets a chair and cracks Dutch in the back. Dutch gets the better of Dustin on the floor and finds a barbed wire table just off of the entrance! Dutch gets the table up and pulls Dustin on to the apron, heading up to the top rope! Dutch thinks about a superplex but Dustin fights him off with right hands and a headbutt and Dutch goes crashing through the barbed wire table! Vincent goes low on Dustin behind his back and Sammy gets posted on the ring post, allowing Vincent to hit Sammy with Orange Sunshine! Vincent finds a pair of scissors underneath the ring and frees himself of the restrains. Dutch now gets Dusty’s bell and chokes Dustin around the bottom of the ringpost. Dustin is unconscious but Sammy breaks it up. Superkick by Sammy and an enziguiri to the back of the head. Vincent rolls to the outside but Sammy follows with a tope. Springboard cutter by Sammy on the floor. Sammy finds another table underneath the ring and sets it up. And now, he finds a ladder as well. Sammy sets Vincent up on the table and heads up the ladder. Senton off the top of the ladder but Vincent moves! Back in the ring, Dustin is up and he’s fighting off Vincent, despite being tethered to Dutch. Bulldog by Dustin. Vincent however, blasts Dustin with the cowbell and gets two. The Righteous now put the boots to Dustin in a two on one situation here. Dustin fires back up but it’s an assisted Orange Sunshine. Sammy breaks up the pin. Texas Destroyer by Dustin to Dutch! GTH to Vincent on the floor! Dustin grabs his father’s cow bell and blasts Dutch in the head with it and that’ll do it.

Winner and STILL ROH World Tag Team Champions: Sons of Texas

Rating: **3/4. I mean, lots of effort here and a heck of a lot of plunder. It was fine for the type of match it was, but it didn’t really play into the match itself.

Match #7. ROH World TV Championship Survival of the Fittest: Brian Cage (c) vs. Mark Davis vs. Willie Mack vs. AR Fox vs. Blake Christian vs. Komander

Cage military presses AR Fox on to everyone, leaving he and Davis in the middle of the ring. German suplex by Cage. Davis cartwheels out of an Irish whip and back body drops Cage, following up with a senton. Mack ducks a leg lariat by Davis and follows up with a leg lariat of his own. Fox with an enziguiri to Mack and now Christian is here. Fox with an outisde-in senton and a leap of faith to Mack, to Cage, and now to Mack again. Komander walks the ropes into a tieres that takes Fox over the top and to the floor. Twisting asai moonsault to the floor by Komander. Superkick by Christian to Komander. and a diving twisting inside-out reverse DDT by Christian to Cage. Komander walks the ropes but Christian trips the legs out and spears him on the apron. Twisting plancha by Christian takes out Mack and Cage. Moonsault by Christian but Cage catches him into a Drillbit. Davis is in the ring now and he lays in some hard chops to Cage. Single leg dropkick by Cage to Davis. Cage German suplexes Komander AND AR Fox. One handed military press by Cage to Komander! Zig Zag by Mack to Cage. Pop-up elbow to Christian. MAck with a double Samoan drop to Fox and Komander! Body slam to Davis and a standing moonsault! Two count. Stunner to Cage. To Fox. To Christian. To Davis. Komander tries to springboard in but he gets a SUPER Stunner! Cage is up with a discus lariat to Mack and that’ll do it. Wait, it’s an elimination match. They said it WASN’T an elimination. But yeah, let’s continue. Basement cutter and a springboard cutter by Fox. Pendulum DDT to Davis. Iconoclasm to Christian and a follow through cutter. Package powerbomb to Christian. Komander gets a head of steam and looks for a dive on the outside, but Fox meets him on the apron for an apron DDT! Imploding Shooting Star by Fox to the outside! Fox with a Spanish Fly from the top and a 450. that gets two on Komander. Big boot in the corner by Fox to Cage. Cage counters a Super Spanish Fly into a super bomb! Fox is gone. Komander rolls up Cage for two out of nowhere. Komander comes off the top and gets caught. F-10! Christian tries a cradle on Cage but Cage rolls through into the F5. Davis cradles Cage for two! Enziguiri by Davis and a running lariat. Piledriver by Davis! Oen, two, three! Brian Cage is gone and we WILL have a new champion! Blake Christian rolls in and goes low on Mark Davis, rolling in for the win! Komander and Christian are left. Fans are on their feet for this. Springboard crossbody by Komander but Christian is back with a backbreaker and an enziguiri to the back of the head. Release German by Christian and a diving dropkick. Komander goes up tope and Christian just throws him off to the floor. Suicide dive between the turnbuckles by Christian. Christian goes up top again but misses a 450 and they trade superkicks and thrust kicks. Dropkick to the back by Komander but a Spanish Fly by Christian gets two. Christian goes up top but Komander catches him with an avalanche poisonrana! Christian rolls to the outside and Komander walks the ropes and it’s a twisting plancha to the floor! Rope walk Shooting Star but NO! Christian throws the referee into the ropes and curb stomps the back of Komander’s head! One, two, no! The entire arena is chanting for Komander and this feels special. Both guys up top and Christian with a twisting side suplex off the top for two. Komander with a cradle for two. Springboard Mexican Destroyer! 619! Rope walk Shooting Star Press! One, two, three!

Winner and NEW ROH TV Champion: Komander

Rating: ****1/4. Special. This got special towards the end and the crowd is a huge part of that. What a match. This one started a little slow but man, did we get up at that half way point. Komander has been so good and so consistent, the man deserves it.

Match #8. AEW World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) w/ Bryan Keith vs. Matt Cardona

Jericho comes out dressed at the Statue of Liberty to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” and we’ve got the big deal entrances, tonight. Cardona starts hot with a running boot in the corner and a plancha over the top that takes out Jericho and Keith. Cardona sends Jericho into the steel steps and allows his dad to pie face him at ringside. Cardona grabs the ROH World Title and whips Jericho in the center of the ring, twice. This kind of takes the air out of the arena as all the fans wonder if this is a DQ? It’s not, for some reason. Cardona beats on Jericho on the outside but gets back body dropped on the ramp! Cardona barely gets back in the ring by the count, but does. Chops by Jericho in the corner…. andddd there goes my feed. After resetting my router and TV… It seems like Chris Jericho has defeated Cardona, and Bandido is here to make the save for Cardona. Bandido comes off the top rope with a dropkick and now… something is off. Looking back at it, it seems like Bandido hit his head on the shotgun dropkick and may have given himself a concussion. Bryan Keith waits a long time for Bandido to collect himself, and now Bandido tries to dispose of Bill but Bill just bails when he sems Bandido isn’t okay.

Winner and STILL Ring of Honor World Champion: Chris Jericho

Rating: NR

Match #9. Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion: Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz

Starkz comes out in Sumi Sakai’s gear, while Athena is dressed as Two Face. Hair whip by Athena but Billie is back with some big elbows and a hair toss of her own. Another one. Running back elbow by Athena but Billie cartwheels out of an Irish whip and comes back with a rewind kick. Athena catches a hook kick and locks in the Stretch Muffler in the middle of the ring! Deadlift single arm powerbomb by Athena gets two. Athena now traps the leg over the middle rope and Athena punts it a bunch. Billie rolls to the outside and Athena sets her up in front of the steel steps but she misses a charge and Athena lands hard. Flatliner into the corner of the steps! Billie rolls Athena in the ring but Athena is hurt and rolls out the other side. Electric chair by Billie but the knee buckles and Athena takes advantage with a pop-up powerbomb! Athena in control now, playing with her food, almost. Athena gets a long two count. Athena pulls Billie to the apron and tries to wrap her knees around the post, but instead, Billie pull Athena into the post! Billie catches Athena coming in the ring with a DDT through the middle rope! Back elbow and a clothesline by Billie, followed by a big knee to the face. Pop-up Meteora by Billie and a swinging reverse DDT a la Sumie Sakai! Two count. Brainbuster on the knee by Billie! Another two count. Billie heads up top but Athena meets her there with a big dropkick. Athena goes up top and superplexes Billie back in the ring. Another two count .Athena looks for the Razor’s Edge but Billie counters, momentarily, but Athena rolls through and deadlifts Billie! Dominator into a pull of knees to the face! Two count. Athena heads up top here but Billie catches the O Face! German suplex by Billie! German suplex by Athena! Big boot by Billie. Running elbow by Atena. A pair of kicks by Billie but Athena drills her with an elbow and a heel kick. Athena looks fora tombstone but Billie reverses it into one of her own and the crowd is alive for it! Athena looks for reprieve on the apron but Billie follows. looking for a German on the apron. Athena sends Billie into the turnbuckle on the outside but Billie is back with a huge elbow. Athena stomps the feet and tries to piledrive Billie, but she reveres into an Alabama Slam on the apron! Swanton from the top to Athena on the floor and that was PERFECT! Back in the ring, Billie hits a version of the Styles Clash! One, two, NO! Crowd is alive for this one. The referee gets taken out on the floor and Athena has Billie in trouble. Athena wants the microphone from Lexy Nair but Billie kicks it out of her hands. Shotgun dropkick by Billie and a version of the One Winged Angel! One, two, no! Billie looks for the Electric Chair again but Athena counters with a poisonrana! The middle buckle is exposed and Billie gets dropkicked into it! Athena goes up top… O Face! One, two, three!

Winner and STILL ROH Women’s World Champion: Athena

Rating: ****. Athena is the forever champion and for damn good reason. Billie put on an excellent performance here and has become such an excellent professional wrestler, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Athena is carrying this company on her back and I won’t be told otherwise.

After the match, Billie Starkz is crying in the middle of the ring as both women have blood coming out of their nose. Athena and Lexy celebrate to the back and Billie is distraught.

Final Thoughts: Lots of good stuff on this PPV, and a decent amount of filler as well. I’m sorry for missing the Cardona and Jericho match, but according to X… I didn’t miss much. Also, the Bandido run in, the injury, the awkwardness.. that’s really unfortunate. The real man event was Billie and Athena and that delivered. What’s left for Athena, though? Nigel McGuinness coming back was a great moment, and subsequently putting on an excellent match with Lee Moriarty. Danhausen’s return, the Survival of the Fittest, all high points. I think the fans, including me, have to realize Ring of Honor’s past will not be it’s future, and comparing this show to the likes of a Danielson/Morishim, Cole/O’Reilly, Bucks/Briscoes, show, is unfair. That said, this was still an entertaining four hours of wrestling. Four hours is a long time, though. 7.75/10.