ROH Final Battle 2012 Preview

Original Title: Scummy Wrestling Show Alert: Ring of Honor Final Battle 2012 Hype Email
Original Date Sent: December 4, 2012
Sent to: Some very confused friends
Context: I'm going to an indie wrestling show in a couple weeks and I'm very excited about it. The "scummy" in the title is very much a term of endearment. The "previous show" often referenced below was ROH's last show in NYC, Best in the World 2012. It can be purchased here: http://www.rohwrestling.com/product/best-world-2012-hostage-crisis-new-york-ny-62412-dvd


A few months back, a bunch of us went to an independent wrestling show at the Manhattan Center. Highlights include Bart's descent into barbarism, one of the wrestlers getting his teeth literally kicked out of his head, and some unidentified ex-wrestler in the crowd screaming about how much he hated the nerd fans and wrestling "journalists" in attendance. Needless to say, it was awesome. The upcoming show on next Sunday afternoon, December 16th could be an even better time (it's certainly a better show on paper). Here's the official site:

http://www.rohwrestling.com/live/events/2012/dec/16/final-battle-2012-nyc

My match by match breakdown is below for anyone even remotely interested. Tickets are $15 and I'm  going. So who wants to join me for this pit stop on the Road to Wrestlemania in what should certainly be a weird time?

ROH World Championship Match
Ladder War
Kevin Steen (c) vs. El Generico
These two are sort of the Last of the Mohicans when it comes to the Golden Age of independent wrestling. They emerged from the great city of Montreal (best known for poutine, strip clubs, and traumatizing road trips) and quickly made a name for themselves stateside along with other IWS alums Beef Wellington (innovator of the Ass Punch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IveKi308sZs), Sexxy Eddy (most famous for drinking his own arterial spray at CZW's annual Tournament of Death), and PCO (best known as one half of the early 90's WWF tag team The Quebecers where he teamed with The Mountie). Steen and  Generico followed the usual indie sensation trajectory of alternating between feuding and tagging together. And as more and more big names were snapped up by WWE (CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero) and TNA (Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, AJ Styles) independent promoters across the country handed bigger roles to Steen and Generico.

This peaked in ROH when the two had an epic blood feud that ended with El Generico defeating Steen in a sort of Loser Leaves Town match (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmqwx3_el-generico-vs-kevin-steen-fight-without-honor-roh-final-battle-2010_sport). However, due to backstage factors and increased bookings in Europe and Japan it was Generico who wound up leaving ROH. Meanwhile, Steen stuck around to become their alpha dog. For the past year Steen has inflicted a reign of terror on ROH with a stated goal of killing the company (thus one reason for the awesome (and Bart approved) "Kill Steen Kill" chants). This culminated last month when after winning yet again Steen was presented with a box. Inside the box was El Generico's mask, signalling his long-awaited return to the company (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2012/10/16/DSC_7384.JPG). This is being billed as a "Ladder War" and there is no doubt in my mind that Steen wants this to be the best match of his career. The success this year of such unorthodox talents as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Austin Aries seems to have opened the door to the previously unthinkable rumor that one or both of them may be headed to WWE's developmental
territory in the near future. This would be one hell of a way to go out. Regardless, the nerd crowd will be at a rabid froth from bell to bell for this one.

And one last note for this match. El Generico's entrance music should sound at least a little bit familiar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtdSmkweK8

ROH TV Title Match
Special Challenge Match
Adam Cole (c) vs. Matt Hardy
When last we saw Adam Cole, he had gone looking like this(http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/89/21/8921d22bc5f9e5cc387b11381e8c33a9.jpg) to looking like this (uh, maybe NSFW http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/862/59886110151149714946328.jpg/sr=1) in a match that absolutely stole the show and could safely be described as "career-making" (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt7xv2_adam-cole-vs-kyle-o-reilly-roh-best-in-the-world-2012_sport). Since then ROH made a big investment in the guy, handing him the TV Title and giving him wins over several of their "big" names. Well, Final Battle brings the "biggest" name yet: former WWE standout Matt Hardy. Back in his day, Hardy was one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world and he and his more popular brother Jeff were one of the great tag teams of all time. Time has taken its toll on ol' Matt though. A combination of getting older and going a little crazy has left his reputation more than a little tarnished as of late. I for one still have confidence in him, even if he's just a few weeks removed from cracking his skull open during an ECW reunion show. For Adam Cole, this is a solid showcase with a real name on a big show and could go a long way in building his already impressive resume.

ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Three Way Dance
S.C.U.M. (Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs) (c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Steve Corino is a former ECW world champion and arguably the one person most hurt by the WWE's buy out of all their major competition back in 2001. Almost everyone else got at least a shot from WWE or a
few nice paydays from TNA (and some were too young and new at the time to be all that affected). But Corino, who was on the verge of a WCW contract before it was bought out, never got a chance in either place. Instead he's been an indie warrior, earning whatever he can in Japan, Europe, and on the domestic circuit. The result has been one of the most interesting careers arcs out there. His partner, Jimmy Jacobs, is
actually a similar case. Jacobs is an undersized guy who doesn't have the flashy moveset of an Evan Bourne or the networking skills of a Tyson Kidd. What he does have is the type of charisma that works on a small scale. I don't know how well he would do in front of a crowd of 12,000, but he can certainly bring 120 or even 1200 internet message board nerds (like me!) to their feet. Anyway, these are the bad guys and they are part of the same group as Kevin Steen.

Here they are defending their titles against two teams. The first is the Briscoe Brothers, who have spent the last decade as the best tag team in the United States. Their weird redneck tendencies and the fact that they look like a pair of Delaware meth dealers (http://www.gerweck.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Briscoe-Brothers.jpg) doesn't bode well for their chances of making it on the main stage. But they usually put on a hell of a show. Last time out they wrestled in the opener and it sucked, due in one part to fucked up ropes and in the other to the fact that they were wrestling a masked version of The Headbangers (yeah, these Headbangers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Headbangers). I expect much better out of them here. As for the other team...I honestly know nothing about them. So. There you go.

Grudge Match
Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong
Roderick Strong is famous for his backbreakers. He does other stuff too. But this dude can break a back with the best of them (here's Roddy breaking a Japanese guy in half with one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gqo5Fg_DUM). Michael Elgin is big and has kinda broken out this year. Neither guy was very impressive the last time out. This is a match that could really go either way. If they click and have a good amount of time this could easily steal the show. But it could just as easily get lost in the shuffle.

Grudge Tag Team Match
The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) vs. Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish
The American Wolves were a fairly successful tag team in ROH a few years ago and this is a reunion of sorts for them. O'Reilly is the guy who kicked Adam Cole's face into mush a few months ago and more than a few people are hoping he does the same to Richards here (the nerds are significantly split on Richards's merits as a wrestler and as a person). Bobby Fish is the rare guy who has been far more successful in Japan than he has been here at home. I have no idea what the grudge is here. But it should mean lots of kicks and dudes getting dropped on their heads. If you're into those two things, this is the match for you.

Special Challenge Match
Jay Lethal vs. Rhino
Rhino peaked a solid ten years ago when he tore through the ECW roster en route to becoming the last ECW World Champion. He had a solid if somewhat forgettable run in WWE after that and has returned to the independent scene is recent years. Jay Lethal is a pretty typical indie guy who has been in ROH since pretty much the beginning and has gone through several incarnations. He's a solid hand in the ring. The "Special Challenge Match" aspect is essentially ROH admitting that they have no fucking clue why this match is taking place either.

NYC Street Fight
Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) vs. Rhett Titus & BJ Whitmer
Haas & Benjamin are former WWE Tag Team Champions. They also held the ROH belts for awhile before losing them to Rhett Titus and his former partner Kenny King. King left for TNA shortly thereafter. In his place is BJ Whitmer, a guy who wrestled most of the major indies in the mid-2000s before going into a brief retirement. I haven't seen him since he came back, but he was always pretty solid, if a little bland, in his day. The street fight stipulation should keep this interesting.

Jerry Lynn's Final ROH Match
Lynn is yet another former ECW World Champion on the show (think that nostalgia market is a major factor in shows like this?) and also spent a little time in WCW, WWE, and TNA. He is currently on his retirement
tour that is supposed to culminate with a match against Lance Storm in early February (his retirement tour is getting about the same fanfare as Jeff Hornacek's retirement tour with the Utah Jazz in 2000). Despite never being a huge star in and of himself, Lynn did have some pretty legendary feuds with Sean "X-Pac/Syxx/1-2-3 Kid/Lightning Kid/Chyna's Ex-Boyfriend" Waltman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or4ZtKQl9pQ) and Rob Van Dam (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6cd78_hardcore-heaven-1999-rob-van-dam-vs_sport#.UL6DRYM8008). Lynn also held the ROH World Title at one time, so there's certainly some significance to this being his last match there. So far the opponent hasn't been officially announced. But it will probably be Mike Bennett. Bennett is from Boston and is a surefire guy to get the crowd 100% behind Lynn. I have no idea what Lynn has left in the tank, but you might get to see a wrestling fan cry.

Hope to see one or two or a dozen of you there!