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Csonka’s ROH Final Battle 2019 Review

December 13, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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6.8
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Csonka’s ROH Final Battle 2019 Review  

Csonka’s Final Battle 2019 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Pre-Show Match: Silas Young & Josh Woods Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry @ 9:15 via pin [**½]
Pre-Show Match: Kenny King defeated Rhett Titus @ 11:20 via pin [**¾]
Pre-Show Match: Jeff Cobb defeated Dan Maff @ 9:05 via pin [***½]
– Flamita & Bandido defeated Flip Gordon & Marty Scurll @ 14:05 via pin [****]
– VINCENT defeated Matt Taven @ 13:40 via pin [***]
Street Fight: Mark Haskins defeated Bully Ray @ 16:50 via pin [*]
– Alex Shelley defeated Colt Cabana @ 6:35 via pin [***]
– Maria Manic defeated Angelina Love @ 6:25 via submission [**]
ROH TV Title Match: Dragon Lee defeated Champion Shane Taylor @ 14:45 via pin [****]
ROH Tag Team Title Match: Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated Champions The Briscoes @ 21:10 via pin [****]
ROH Title Match: PCO defeated Champion Rush @ 22:30 via pin [*]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry vs. Silas Young & Josh Woods: Hendry and Young begin, locking up and working to a stalemate. Hendry works into counters, trips up Young and they work to the ground. Back to the feet and Hendry hits a shoulder tackle, they work into counters and end in a standoff. Woods and Castle tag in, they grapple and work to the mat as they trade pin attempts. They pose and Young tags in as Castle attacks, Hendry in and double teams follow as Hendry hits a suplex for 2. Woods in and Hendry takes over until Young attacks Castle and takes control. Young attacks the back talks shit and Woods tags in and grounds things, covering for 2. The slam follows as Young tags in with the slingshot double stomp. Castle fires back, hits a suplex and Hendry and Woods tag in. Hendry runs wild and slams both at the same time. Castle in and follows with knee strikes, Young cuts him off with the anarchist suplex and Woods cradles Castle for 2. It breaks down as all four are in and Woods suplexes Hendry and the knee strike finishes Castle. Silas Young & Josh Woods Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry @ 9:15 via pin [**½] This was a solid match as Young & Woods go 6-0 and look primed for a tag title shot.

– The Allure are interviewed about Love’s match with Manic tonight. She’s not afraid of Manic and will prove why she is a 7-time champion.

– Alex Shelley arrives and puts over Baltimore, and puts over the great talent in ROH, and how some come back as teachers. But Colt Cabana doesn’t have a match on the show tonight, and they have never wrestled. He wants a match with him. Colt appreciates him as well, and is coming off of a long NJPW tour and is the NWA National Champion, and would love to be on Final Battle. He would love to face Shelley and accepts.

Kenny King vs. Rhett Titus: Titus’ wife and newborn son are at ringside. King and Amy Rose arrive to the ANX theme music. They lockup, working to the ropes and break. Lockup again and they talk shit as King hits a shoulder tackle as they work into counters and end in a stalemate. Test of strength, King works the arm until Titus takes him down. King stuns him off the ropes, hits a clothesline and Titus fires back with chops until King stuns him over the ropes. He talks shit to Mrs. Titus and Titus hits a rough looking dive. They brawl at ringside, belly to belly by Titus and back in, Titus dumps him back to the floor. Titus hugs his son and follows with a suplex on King. King cuts him off with a spinebuster to the apron, and back in, covers for 2. Titus fires back but King suplexes him to the buckles and covers for 2. The camel clutch follows, Titus counters out and follows with strikes, a corner splash and clothesline. The charge is countered, but Titus fires back and King cuts him off with an enziguri. They work up top, Titus shoves him off and the high cross follows for 2. King then counters into a spinebuster for 2. The lethal injection is countered, royal flush by Titus and that gets 2. The running boots follow by Titus and Rose distracts him as King hits a low blow, Royal flush and wins. Kenny King defeated Rhett Titus @ 11:20 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good for the first match in the feud, which will continue.

– The Bouncers are interviewed at ringside, and are drinking and having a great time. They are split on the main event, Milonas loves Rush because he drinks with them.

Dan Maff vs. Jeff Cobb: They collide at the bell and start brawling. Cobb hits a dropkick but Maff shakes it off and dumps him. The suicide dive follows and back in, Maff follows with strikes and chops until Cobb cuts him off with a suplex and the standing moonsault gets 2. Cobb follows with chops, but Maff hits a pounce. The cannonball follows. He misses a second one and they work up top, and Cobb hits the dead lift suplex. Tour of the islands is countered, head butt by Maff and they trade superkicks. Lariat by Cobb and both men are down. They fight back to the feet and star trading chops and strikes, German by Cobb and he follows with chops and strikes, unloading on Maff as the running uppercut follows. Maff hits a huge desperation spear and the ripcord lariat follows for 2. The burning hammer is countered, they trade and Cobb overhead suplexes him to the buckles. They work up top, Maff fights and slips out, hits Cheeky nandos but Cobb counters into the tour of the islands, hits another and picks up the win. Jeff Cobb defeated Dan Maff @ 9:05 via pin [***½] This was a really good, fun, and hard-hitting hoss fight.

– Post match, they shake hands, chop each other, and shake hands again.

Flip Gordon & Marty Scurll vs. Flamita & Bandido: Brody King joins commentary. Flip and Flamita begin, locking up and trading shoulder tackles. They pick up the pace, working into counters and they end in a standoff. Marty & Bandido tag in, they lockup and work into a series of counters as Marty gets the cradle for 2. RANA by Bandido, he dropkicks Flip and Flamita tags in as double teams follow on Flip. Flamita hits a splash off of Banddio’s shoulders and covers for 2. Flip pokes the eyes and drags him to the floor as double teams follow. Back in and double teams follow for 2. Marty grounds Flamita, and starts working the arm. He follows with chops, tags in Flip and the PK follows for 2. Marty back in and Flamita fights them off, hits a superkick and tags in Bandido. He follows with a high tornillo pres, strikes, and Flamita joins in for double teams as they pick up a near fall. They isolate Flip, hit a dream sequence and the standing moonsault gets 2. Marty in and eats superkicks, Flamita almost completely botches an assisted dive but saved it. They continue to double team Flip and the cover gets 2. Flip battles back, they dump Bandido and Flip hits the DDT for 2. Marty tags in and they double team Flamita with superkicks until Bandido flies in with the missile dropkick, The Fosbury flop follows and it breaks down, Spanish fly by Flamita and Flip hits kinder surpass, I-95 by Flip & Marty follows for 2. Marty accidentally hits Flip, tag to Bandido and Marty cuts him off with the half and half, a neck breaker but fights back and hits the avalanche moonsault press slam but Marty snatches him up in the chicken wing and Flamita hits the 450, takes out Flip and X-knee follows and Bandido hits the 619, double 21-plex combo for the win. Flamita & Bandido defeated Flip Gordon & Marty Scurll @ 14:05 via pin [****] This was a great tag match to kick off the PPV proper, with everyone working hard and getting time to shine. Take away a few of the rough edges and it’s even better, but a great choice to kick off the show.

VINCENT vs. Matt Taven: Taven charges the ring and they brawl right away. Taven follows with a dive and he peels up the mats on the floor. VINCENT cuts him off and slams him to the barricade, Taven dumps him into the crowd and follows with a dive over the barricade. They work back into the ring and Taven hits an enziguri. He follows with a spin kick and the sitout spinebuster follows for 2. Taven works a modified cloverleaf, but VINCENT escapes and runs into a DDT for 2. VINCENT fires back, dumps Taven and VINCENT suplexes him onto the exposed floor. Back in and VINCENT talks trash as he beats down Taven. Taven fires back, but VINCENT hits a knee strike and Russian leg sweep for 2. VINCENT starts targeting the previously inured leg of Taven, they trade, lariat by Taven and both men are down. VINCENT stuns him off the ropes but Taven dumps him and follows with a tope. Taven up top and follows with a splash to VINCENT on the apron. Back in and Taven covers for 2. VINCENT cuts him off, follows with corner attacks and heads up top. Red rum follows for 2. They work into counters, just the tip by Taven and the climax follows for 2 as VINCENT has a foot on the ropes. Another climax follows for 2 as VINCENT kicks out. Taven is pissed, gets VINCENT’s axe but runs into sliced bread and VINCENT wins. VINCENT defeated Matt Taven @ 13:40 via pin [***] This was god, it played to the tone of the feud well, and Taven actually played babyface really well. He was his own downfall, which worked as a finish, but it was also a finish that came off flat. What was annoying is that VINCENT ‘s defining heel characteristics are he’s weird, poses a lot and says, “yeah maaaaaaaaaan” a ton.

– Post match, Bateman tombstones Taven. VINCENT brings in a wooden block and they go Misery, and Kathy Bates Taven’s ankle.

Street Fight: Mark Haskins vs. Bully Ray: Vicki is at ringside. Bully Ray sneak attacks the lovely couple by hitting them with a barbed wire board. They take Vicki to the back as Bully attacks Mark with chair shots. Bully takes control in the ring, slowly working over Mark and throwing him around with Germans. He pulls out a piece of guardrail, slides it in and Germans Mark onto it. He props the guardrail in the corner, and then hits a full nelson bomb. Bully gets a cheese grater, follows with jabs and Mark finally cuts him off with an enziguri. Bully cuts him off, gets a kendo and a chair. He grabs the mic and monologues, hitting Mark with the kendo, and calling him a jobber. Mark calls him a pussy, daring him to keep attacking. Bully keeps attacking. Mark tells him to fuck off and slams him onto the chair. He follows with chair shots, kicks it into his face and grabs a ladder. He starts stomping Bully’s arm into the chair and sets up the ladder. Bully knocks him off onto the guardrail, grabs a table and then the barbed wire board. He sets up the table, lays the barbed wire board into it and sets for a super bomb. Mark fires back, but Bully slams him onto the bared wire and jumps on him again to break the table, covering for 2. Bully takes out the ref, gets a new table and sets it up. He paints his face with Mark’s blood and lays him on the table. Vicki arrives and low blows him with the cheese grater, a little fromunda cheese. She and Mark slam him through the table, double stomp by Mark and the new ref counts three… which Bully Ray does a kick out right after because he’s Bully Ray. Mark Haskins defeated Bully Ray @ 16:50 via pin [*] It was every Bully Ray ROH match, he takes 95% of it, gets more time than anyone else on the show so far, and only loses when the face gets help. In theory the story is fine as the babyface eventually wins, but this does nothing for Haskins going forward.

Alex Shelley vs. Colt Cabana: They shake hands and lockup, working into counters and back to the feet. Colt starts working the arm, and they work into counters again. Shelley grabs the arm, transitions to the leg and grounds the action. Colt counters back, slick exchanges here as thy work into a standoff. Colt grounds things with a body scissors, Shelley starts attacking the legs and counters out into a pendulum hold. Colt escapes as Shelley looks frustrated. Shelley picks up the pace, counters follow and Colt cradles him for 2. The Superman pin gets 2. Shelley cradles him for the win. Alex Shelley defeated Colt Cabana @ 6:35 via pin [***] This was a good change of pace and fun/well executed technical battle.

Maria Manic vs. Angelina Love: Mandy Leon is at ringside. Manic rushes the ring, runs wild and hits slams. She chokes out Love, slam Leon to the mat and works them over. Leon spills to the floor, tosses Love across the ring and follows with the running boot. Manic celebrates, and back in, the powerbomb follows. Manic celebrates, Leon in and Manic takes her out. She caches the high cross into a fall away slam. To the apron and Leon makes the save. Manic slams her on the floor, and press slams Love onto a table at ringside. Manic steals someone’s MJF scarf and drinks some water. She rolls Love back in and the torture rack finishes it, Maria Manic defeated Angelina Love @ 6:25 via submission [**] They had the right idea as Manic looked great, but it went too long, and could have been accomplished the same in half the time.

Champion Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee: Lee hits John Woooooo but Taylor fires back with ground and pound. Dropkick by Lee and to the floor, Taylor chokeslams him on the apron. He follows with chops, sits him in a chair and follows with the running knee strike. Taylor takes him to the apron and the big leg drop connects. He follows with elbows, and back in, Taylor drops him with strikes. The leg drop follows for 2. Taylor starts talking shit to Lee, lays in thunderous chops and Lee is down. Taylor misses the corner charge, Lee dumps him and follows with the suicide dive. Lee then connects with the tope con hello. Back in and lee hits combination cabrone. He follows with strikes, kicks, and the bull’s horns for 2. Taylor fires back with a clothesline, dropkick by Lee and the knee strike follows. They trade, knee strikes by Lee and he heads up top and hits the double stomp to the apron. Back in and Lee up top, and the double stomp gets 2. He slaps Taylor, Taylor fires up and they trade. Head butt by Taylor and Lee hits the knee strike until Taylor hits a lariat, knee strike and package piledriver for 2. Lee fires up and his the snap German, but Taylor rebounds and he hits a German. Taylor climbs the ropes, Lee cuts him off into a tree of WHOA and follows with the double stomp. The running knee strike gets 2. Taylor fights back and welcome from the land gets a good near fall. Taylor gets a chain, wraps it around his fist and Lee cuts him off with a destroyer. Lee gets the chain, loads up the knee pad and the running knee strike follows but Taylor kicks out at 1! DESNUCADORA connects and Taylor kicks out at 2! Lee takes out Taylor’s manager, and drops the kneepad, running knee strike and we have a new champion! Dragon Lee defeated Champion Shane Taylor @ 14:45 via pin [****] This was great, they played the size difference well, kept a great pace, and delivered a really tremendous closing stretch. If Taylor is done with ROH as rumored, he went out in a great effort.

Champions The Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham: Mark and Gresham begin, locking up and working to thee ropes. Gresham grounds things, rakes the eyes and they break. Lethal tags in and Jay joins him. Lethal tags out and Jay grounds Gresham, tags in Mark and double teams follow. Mark follows with a suplex, Jay follows with kicks as Lethal tags in and lays the boots to Jay. He follows with chops, strikes and Jay hits a shoulder tackle. They lock up and work to the ropes. Mark tags in, follows with strikes and chops. Lethal fires back, and Gresham dropkicks Mark to the floor. They all brawl to the floor, Gresham gets posted and the champions take control. Mark follows with a dive, and the cactus elbow connects on Gresham. They double team Lethal, and back in, Lethal rakes the eyes as double teams follow, attacking the knee of Mark. The challengers look for doomsday, Jay makes the save and Lethal follows with a suicide dive. Missile dropkick by Gresham and they look for doomsday again but Mark cuts that of with an avalanche cutter, Doomsday on Gresham and Lethal makes the save. It breaks down, superkick by Lethal but Jay cuts him off. Mark grounds the action, Jay tags in and hits a head butt. He chokes out Lethal and Mark tags back in as double teams follow. Mark attacks the previously injured arm of Lethal, but gets the tag to Gresham. Gresham runs wild, hits a missile dropkick and suicide dive. Lethal injection on Mark, shooting star press by Gresham and Jay makes the save. Gresham takes out Mark’s knee and grounds the action. Lethal tags in and double teams follow. The challengers continue to isolate Mark, working the leg until Mark hits a desperation XPLODER. Lethal & Jay tag in, trading strikes and Jay takes control with head butts and uppercuts. It breaks down, the Cornette cutter is countered into a DVD and Jay cradles Lethal for 2. JAY Driller on lethal and that gets 2 as Gresham pulls out the ref. Mark takes him out, belt shot by Lethal and that gets 2. The figure four follows as Gresham chokes out Mark on the floor. Mark escapes, slams Gresham on the apron and Mark then hits froggy bow to save Jay. The champions look for doomsday but Gresham makes the save and Lethal cradles Jay with the tights to win the titles. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated Champions The Briscoes @ 21:10 via pin [****] It started a bit slow, but developed into a great tag match, with a really well done closing stretch, and the right call in crowning new champions. The title change and finish also sets us up nicely for a rematch down the line.

Champion Rush vs. PCO: They brawl at the bell and trade chops as Rush hits a running knee strike but runs into a lariat. PCO looks for a dive but Rush hits him with a chair shot and slams him to the barricades. He then whips him with a cable and back in, Rush follows with chops, a corner attack and basement dropkick. They trade, Rush beats him down in the corner and kicks him in the face; tranquilo. The hanging arm bar follows, Rush grabs a step stool and tosses it in the ring. He throws it at PCO, wedges it in the corner and it falls out. He just stands it up and whips PCO into it. Rush cackles like a villain as he celebrates and attacks. PCO fires back, hits a pop up powerbomb and the suicide cannonball. He sets Rush on the apron and heads up top. The senton misses, and PCO is down on the floor. Rush suplexes him onto the table at ringside, but, I AM THE TABLE. They brawl into the entrance way, and by PCO’s hearse. He hits PCO with a barricade, piles a few up and adds chairs to the pile. PCO fires back, they trade chops and battle onto the stage. Rush tosses him off onto the pile of carnage, and celebrates. Destro arrives and gets jumper cables to revive PCO. He fires up and chokeslams Rush on the hood of the hearse. PCO follows with a leg drop on top of the hood and Rush follow him onto the roof and tosses PCO to the floor with an overhead belly to belly. PCO gets a crow bar, but Rush avoids him and attacks. He heads back to the ring, PCO follows and Rush gets doors from under the ring. He props them up in the corners, hits a German on PCO and the knee strike follows for 2. Rush up top and the big senton follows for 1. Rush breaks a door over his head, suplexes him through another and PCO fires up and spears him through the other door for 2. PCO up top and the PCO-sault gets 2. Destro slides him in a table, PCO sets it up and Rush follows with a chair shot. He takes out Destro, and dumps him into the crowd. Back in and PCO hits a chokeslam, lays him on the table and the PCO-sault finishes it. PCO defeated Champion Rush @ 22:30 via pin [*] Well this was certainly something and it wasn’t good. I was fearful of the kind of match we would get and that’s what we got. It was a slow, disjointed plunder brawl that lost the crowd following the supernatural electrocution spot and from there just felt way too long. It never had much heat to it anyway, it never felt locked into anything other than PCO takes punishment and does stupid shit and then overcomes, which is the only way ROH knows how to book PCO. Sure, the PCO win is a lovely story, but I have absolutely no idea why you cut off the Rush title run so early for PCO when the company’s in the state it’s in. Again, a nice achievement for PCO and a lifetime achievement award of sorts, but a bad main event and a very questionable booking decision.

– Villain Enterprises arrives to celebrate with PCO.

 photo The411onWrestling-KHC15_1A_zps84kblpqb.jpg

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 74. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert break down week 11 of AEW vs. NXT TV, and then preview WWE TLC 2019. The show is approximately 95-minutes long.

* Intro
* AEW (12.11.19) Dynamite Review: 2:25
* NXT TV (12.11.19) Review: 42:40
* The Head to Head Comparison: 1:02:20
* Previewing WWE TLC 2019: 1:09:45

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

6.8
The final score: review Average
The 411
ROH Final Battle 2019 was the best and worst of ROH all wrapped up into one. The wrestling was largely good, and there was even some great stuff, but then you have Bully Ray eating up 17-minutes working the only match he can in 2019 and while he lost, didn’t exactly put Haskins over. It feels like Marty is gone following his loss and fact that he wasn’t involved in the main event, but Cobb may be staying which is at least something. The tag &TV title matches were great and gave us new and fresh champions, but that main event was bad and was a really questionable result. Many times ROH waits too long to pull the trigger on a title win (or sometimes doesn’t do it at all) but I just don’t get the PCO title win. It’s not like he was this massively over act that people were begging to win the championship, and you cutoff a year of Rush being undefeated, just winning the title and don’t even give him a chance to run with things to see if he can improve business. Overall, the show was pretty good, but far from the homerun this promotion needed heading into 2020.
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