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411's Ring of Honor Final Battle 2011 Review
Posted by TJ Hawke on 12.27.2011





Jim Cornette, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Cary Silken, and Joe Koff were in the ring to start the show. Koff put over Silken as the "originator" of ROH wrestling. 2nd weekend in a row, ROH has tried to label Silken as the founder of ROH. I don't understand why they are lying about something that fans can easily look up and discover to be not true. Cary Silken is a very important part of ROH's history, but mislabeling him is silly at best and insulting at worse. I hope ROH has gotten some negative feedback about this and then decide to stop doing it. Koff redeemed himself slightly after that by putting over Festivus .


TJ Perkins vs. Michael Elgin (w/ Truth Martini)
TJP had a social media faux pas in the last week, criticizing Chris Hero's international experience. It doesn't look like many in NYC were aware of this. If they were, NYC probably would have treated him like Los Angeles treated Shane Helms for badmouthing Shawn Michaels.

TJP sent Elgin the outside early. TJP went for a rolling senton, but Elgin caught him and gave him a dominator into the barricade. That was awesome. Elgin got the heat after that. I just noticed that Truth Martini is wearing a top hat with a hole on top for his flowing locks to come out of. I have completely turned the corner on Martini; the man is awesome. TJP came back with a somersault plancha and a standing corkscrew senton. Elgin hit a buckle bomb and went for another, but TJP countered with a reverse hurricanranna. Elgin came back with a spinning backfist, buckle bomb, and a spinning powerbomb: 1…2…3!

Good opening match. As expected, TJP made Elgin looked like a beast, but he also was able to look good in defeat. Elgin is guaranteed one title shot in 2011, and he should be regularly main eventing by the end of 2012. TJP's return to ROH in the last year has produced some good-to-great matches, but he really could use some direction at this point.
Match Rating: **3/4



Jimmy Rave vs. Tomasso Ciampa (w/ Prince Nana, R.D. Evans, Princess Mia Yim, and Mr. Ernesto Osiris)
This is a battle of the current Crown Jewel with the past Crown Jewel. Rave has looked great in 2011 in various appearances (DGUSA & Rampage Pro come to mind), and I think he would make a great addition to the ROH roster going forward. This is Rave's first ROH appearance since September 2009, and his first Final Battle match since his (real boring) match with Nigel McGuinness at Final Battle 2006.

Rave came back from TNA India with a beard. Rave outwrestled Ciampa early, but Ciampa cut him off with a big lariat. Rave came back with some chops and was able to lock in the heel hook. The heel hook was the first time the crowd was really hot for anything in the match. Ciampa made the ropes, but ended up on the outside. Rave went for a baseball slide, but Ciampa caught him and threw him into the barricade. Rave came back with a Shining Wizard and a Styles Clash: 1…2…NO! That got "A.J. Styles" chants. Rave went for the Greetings from Ghana, but Nana jumped on the apron and offered Rave the original Embassy robe. Rave tried to punch Nana, but Todd Sinclair stopped it. Rave then took out Evans, Ernie, and Mia, but then walked into a Project Ciampa: 1…2…3.

Disappointing match. Rave looked sharp, but neither man seemed to be trying to have a "statement" match so to speak. The ending allows for Rave to come back, but I don't know if it's going to happen. I think Ciampa has potential but it's clear that the fans don't really hate him or this Embassy reboot. The reboot has been going for a year, and I think it's time for ROH to try to jump start this faction. The Embassy has a lot of great individual parts, but it hasn't come together the way it should. I think ROH should seriously consider putting R.D. Evans in the ring, because the man is great (and not just as a comedy wrestler).
Match Rating: **1/2



Jay Lethal© vs. El Generico vs. Mike Bennett (w/ Maria and "Brutal" Bob Evans) [TV Title/ Elimination]
This feud has theoretically been booked well, but, much to mine and many other wrestling fans' frustration, Bennett seems to have dragged down Generico and Lethal, as opposed to them bringing him up. That has really killed any potential excitement for this feud. Bennett, who is a fine performer, has shown little improvement over the course of the year, and I don't think he has earned his push.

Maria is fucking hot. Good for you Mike, good for you. Kevin Kelly says that Bennett is like Tim Tebow, "So good, but so hated." So, Kevin clearly understands nothing about football. Bennett tried to avoid damage early, but Generico and Lethal finally cornered him and beat him up. Generico and Lethal tried to decide who would do a dive on Bennett first, but eventually they just each did a suicide dive at the same time. They did some "one guy out of the ring, the other two fight in the ring" for a while. Bennett tried to hide behind his posse at one point and Generico took out Evans, but refused to punch Maria. Back in the ring, Lethal hit a Lethal Combination on Generico for a nearfall. Lethal then ran into a spinebuster from Bennett for a nearfall. Generico hit a Michinoku Driver on Bennett for another nearfall. It should be noted that by this time, ROH missed several spots in this match with some poor camera direction. Lethal was going for a Savage Elbow, but Generico gave him a Yakuza kick. Generico then gave Bennett a Double Jump Somersault Plancha, a jump through the turnbuckle Tornado DDT, a Yakuza Kick and a Half-nelson suplex in a row, but Bennett kicked out. Bullshit. Lethal slammed Generico and hit the Savage Elbow for a nearfall. The crowd did not like Lethal attacking Generico. Lethal was going for a second elbow on Generico, but the Generic Luchador met him on the turnbuckle. Bennett came out of nowhere defeated Generico with an O'Connor roll. Sigh. Bennett started to celebrate, but he ate a Lethal Injection out of nowhere: 1…2…3!

I guess ROH doesn't want Lethal to get pinned before he gets his world title shot. Lethal may be getting that title shot in this building at the Anniversary show. Match was fine, but nothing special. The fans were into everything and that kept it fun. I don't know what ROH does with Bennett after this; his TV title win seemed inevitable. (Hopefully bullshit) Rumors about Generico's future in ROH have been running rampant in some sections of the internet, but hopefully this is not a sign of Generico's imminent departure. Since the new television show started, Generico has been put in the Rey Mysterio position, where the fans love him and he has great matches, but the promotion is clearly not fully behind him. I don't get it.
Match Rating: ***



Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino [No DQ}
Jimmy Jacobs is the Special Guest Referee and Jim Cornette is watching at ringside. If Steen wins, he is back in Ring of Honor. This feud has been the best thing ROH has done all year. Steen's various appearances to build up this match have been the most exciting moments of ROH's 2011 in my view. Corino also deserves a lot of credit for carrying this feud for the last year, as Steen has really only made 4 ROH appearances in 2011.

Steen quickly hit a cannonball on the ring apron, but Corino recovered and hit a dive off the apron. Steen superkicked a chair in Corino's head, and then he powerbombed Corino on the edge of the ring apron. Steen grabbed a section of the barricade and just drilled it into Corino's forehead. Corino did not gig after that for some reason. Corino came back with a chair; Corino placed the chair on a barricade, but Steen powerbombed him on that very same chair. Steen pulled out a table and bridged it between the apron and the barricade. Steen was trying to powerbomb Corino into the table, but Corino escaped and hit a lariat. Corino threw some weapons into the ring, but Steen recovered and used the weapons against Corino. Corino started bleeding around an ear after that. Steen went to use a garbage can, but Corino kicked him in the balls and slammed the can on Steen's head repeatedly. Suplex on the garbage can from Corino! Corino powerslammed Steen on several chairs, and he then hit a top rope splash: 1…2…NO! Crowd didn't really buy that nearfall. In fact, the crowd has mostly just been reacting after the (plentiful) big spots, which probably means they feel the result is inevitable. Corino set the barricade up on a series of chairs. Corino then SUPERPLEXED STEEN ON THE ELEVATED BARRICADE: 1…2…NO! Ok, the crowd bought that nearfall. I hope both men are ok after that. Steen recovered and attacked Corino with a chair. Steen set up several chairs on the elevated table at ringside. Both men went to the top turnbuckle closest to that set up. Corino escaped and wacked Steen with a garbage can lid: STEEN FELL THROUGH THE CHAIRS AND TABLE! Corino rolled him in the ring, but Steen kicked out before the 3. Corino used a sliding lariat with a chair, but Steen still kicked out. Cornette got on Jacobs's case about the speed of his counting. Corino went for a suplex on the chair, but Steen escaped and hit a SLEEPER SUPLEX! PUMPHANDLE NECKBREAKER ON THE CHAIR: 1…2…No! Steen was shocked that Corino kicked out. Corino got to his knees and spit in Steen's face, and Steen wacked him in the head with the chair: 1…2…NO! Jacobs went to check on Corino, but Steen pulled Jacobs away. Steen was distracted by Jacobs, and Corino punched him in the face with a roll of quarters: 1…2…NO! Corino set up four chairs next to each other in a square. Steen punched him low: PACKAGE PILEDRIVER THROUGH THE CHAIRS! Jacobs counts as slowly as Derek Sabato, but it can't be helped: STEEN WINS AND IS NOW REINSTATED TO ROH!

An excellent brawl, and this was possibly the best 1v1 match that I have ever seen from Corino. The crowd was into the match, but they weren't red hot as the result was definitely inevitable. Still, the fact that the crowd actually bought some of the nearfalls Corino got is a HUGE testament to the work these two did. Steen being "reinstated" couldn't come soon enough as ROH is in desperate need for more charismatic main eventers. Steen should be pushed to the moon in 2012, and he is clearly the choice to take the title from Davey at some point in 2012 (my guess is that they wait until Final Battle 2012).
Match Rating: ****

The crowd showers Steen with "Welcome Back" chants. Cornette looks furious. Steen grabs the microphone and says "Merry Christmas, the devil is back!" Steen gives Jacobs a package piledriver! The crowd wants him to do it to Jim Cornette. Steen was about to do it, but GENERICO RUNS IN! IS THIS THE RETURN OF DARK GENERICO? NO! STEEN AND GENERICO SLUG IT OUT! YAKUZA KICK TO STEEN! Generico goes for a BRAINBUSTAHHHH, but Steen low blows him. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE RINGSIDE TABLE! "Welcome Back!" This was fantastic and further confirms my belief that Kevin Steen needs to be pushed to the moon in 2012. I may be overreacting but based on the selling, this segment may have been used to write out Corino and Generico.



Contenders Cup Tag Team Gauntlet Match
The winner of the gauntlet earns a tag title shot in 2012.

The Bravados (Lancelot & Harlem Bravado) vs. The C&C Wrestle Factory (Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman)
This one is probably best kept short and action packed. The fans aren't going to buy that either team has a real shot to win this gauntlet.

The Bravados jumped them before the bell. The crowd did not initially care, but Alexander quickly hit a somersault plancha to wake them up. The Bravados eventually cut off Alexander and started to work him over. Coleman took out Lancelot with a unique Asai Moonsault. Alexander then reversed a Magistral Cradle from Harlem and pinned him.

The crowd did not give a crap about this match unless Coleman or Alexander did something flippy.
Match Rating: *3/4

Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly) vs. The C&C Wrestle Factory (Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman)
Crowd woke up when Future Shock's music played. Nigel on the other hand did not recognize the music. Nigel had an off night on commentary to say the least.

The teams went back and forth for a while until Future Shock cut off Coleman and worked him over. Alexander made a hot tag and the crowd went…mild. C&C hit some cool combo moves, which woke up the crowd. Cole took out Coleman mid-suicide dive. Future Shock then hit some combo moves on Alexander and then defeated him with Ride the Lightening.

A little better than the first one, but the crowd still did not care very much.
Match Rating: **1/4

Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
They had an awesome match at PWG Steen Wolf, but they haven't had the chance to go balls to the walls in ROH yet.

The Bucks were posing outside the ring before the match, so Future Shock jumped them with baseball slide kicks. The Bucks caught O'Reilly on a slingshot plancha, but Cole wiped everyone out with a suicide dive. The Bucks quickly cut off Cole and worked him over. Cole eventually avoided a back suplex and made a hot tag to O'Reilly. O'Reilly ran wild on the Bucks for a wild, including hitting 9 rolling Butterfly suplexes in a row on Nick. Cole then gave Nick a wheelbarrow German suplex on the ring apron. O'Reilly was taken out on the outside, which allowed The Bucks to hit More Bang For Your Buck on Cole: 1…2…3.

If you can't tell from recap/review, this match isn't working well, as I feared. This was the best part so far, but it was nowhere near as good as their PWG match. The director has been horrible tonight, as he/she has switched cameras at the wrong times so that spots keep getting missed. It's been happening a lot in this Gauntlet.
Match Rating: ***

All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
The Bucks tried to strike before the bell, but ANX won the initial brawl. The Bucks then took out Titus by going after his injured leg. The Bucks were then able to work over King after that. King caught Nick with an exploder suplex, and then tagged in Titus who made a one-legged comeback. King hit The Coronation on Nick, but Matt then hit King with a Silver King DDT on the apron, which looked brutal. The Bucks went back to work on Titus's knee after that. Matt kept Titus in a spinning toe hold, as Nick hit a 450 splash. Titus was screaming in pain, and Paul Turner called for the bell. Nick hit another 450 splash after the bell. The Bucks win the gauntlet and get a tag title shot in 2012.

This was fine, but the crowd was only causally invested. The Rhett Titus leg injury sucks for Rhett but made for a good storyline in this match. Apparently, Rhett has a torn meniscus and is getting surgery.
Match Rating: **3/4

The gauntlet was everything I feared: long with a mostly quiet crowd. This should have been a straight tag match between Future Shock and The Young Bucks (which has been built up on the last two NYC shows). Titus's legit injury was a perfect excuse to not include ANX on the show. It's a PPV, not everyone needs to or should be on the show.



The Roderick Strong Invitation Challenge
Strong says that he did not accept any of ROH proposed names for the challenge, so he is going to take the win by countout. Truth Martini counted to 10 as these two great men celebrated. But before Truth said 10, "Kings…Reign…Supreme." YAY!

Roderick Strong (w/ Truth Martini & Truth Martini's Top Hat) vs. Chris Hero
Damn right this happened. I take back every snarky comment I have made about ROH in the last 4 months. At least for the duration of this match.

Hero was in control early, until he ended up on the outside and Martini nailed him with the Book of Truth. Roddy rolled Hero back in the ring and worked him over for a while. Roddy distracted the ref, as Martini did more damage to Hero. Hero finally came back with some chops and a drop kick. Hero walked through a chop and hit a snap powerslam. Hero put Roddy on the top rope and hit a cravat suplex. Roddy came back with a back breaker on the top turnbuckle: 1…2…NO! Roddy transitioned that into a Strong Hold. Hero escaped and hit a cravat suplex. Hero hit a big elbow but Roddy kicked out. Roddy then hit a big combination of moves, ending it with the Gibson Driver, but Hero kicked out. Hero hit some more big elbows and the Cyclone Kill: 1…2…NO! DEATH BLOW: 1…2…and Truth Martini blatantly ran into the ring to stop the count. Why wasn't that a DQ? Hero chased Martini around, but Roddy caught Hero with an O'Connor roll: 1…2…NO! Hero kicks Martini but then walks into a Sick Kick: 1…2…3

Good match. The Truth Martini blatant interference is really stupid and shouldn't be used again going forward. I was glad to see Hero again and I hope he gets that WWE contract sometime soon.
Match Rating: ***1/4


Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas)© vs. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) [ROH Tag Titles]
WGTT have had the worst long term tag title reign in ROH's history. I hope it comes to an end tonight.

WGTT hit the Briscoes with the belts before the match started. The teams brawled around the ring, with WGTT in control. The match still had not officially started so WGTT were using chairs. I would say the director cut away before at least two of the chair shots. Haas gave Mark a Lance Storm chairshot to the head. So, there have been two matches with chair shots to the head tonight. Why? This chair beatdown went on for a while. Nigel was literally screaming for Jay to get his hands up on the chair shots to the head. Jay started to bleed after one of the shots to the head. WGTT botched their finisher on Jay and the match officially started. Mark took on both men, which resulted in "Man Up" chants. Jay returned and slugged it out with Haas. The Briscoes went after Shelton's taped ribs. The Briscoes were going for a Spiked JayDriller on Haas, but Shelton stopped it. Haas hit rolling Germans on Jay and locked in the Haas of Pain. Mark went to hit an elbow on Haas, but Shelton shielded him. Well, that was a babyface move. Shelton rolled the outside in pain, and the ref called for help. The Briscoes then beat down Haas, as Shelton was carried to the back. This match has some strange psychology. WGTT just worked heel and now Haas is supposed to be a valiant bayface. Haas then angle slammed Mark into the ref. Shelton then came back out and pulled out a piece of wood from the ring. Shelton broke the wood on Mark's head. The Briscoes avoided a Doomsday Device, and then hit one of their own! 1…2…3!

I have no idea what to think of this match, but I'm definitely glad that the Briscoes took the belts. The crowd was not hot for a lot of the match, but they sure as hell loved the Briscoes. WGTT seemed to turn heel with the pre-match attack, but then they kind of wrestled as bayfaces the rest of the way. At the same time, Haas reacted to the boos as if he was heel. It was all very strange.

WGTT had an absolutely terrible reign, and this was probably as good of a match as WGTT can have at this point. I have no idea what ROH is going to do with them for the rest of their contract (supposedly though April 2013).
Match Rating: **1/2



Davey Richards© (w/ Kyle O'Reilly & Tony Kozina) vs. Eddie Edwards (w/ Dan Severn) [ROH World Title]
While I expected a great match here, it was really troubling that ROH made me less excited for a match with all the TV build. In theory, the Dan Severn aspect was fine, but it just didn't work in the end. This idea that Davey and Eddie had grown apart and that the different training camp issues was a part of it is not really relatable to fans. If there had been years of footage of Eddie training with Davey and Team Richards that fans had grown accustomed to, it may have worked better. ROH doesn't spend their (limited) resources that way though. In fact, ROH keeps putting over Davey training just with Kyle and Kozina so the fact that it would suddenly be an issue that Eddie sought out Severn never really made sense, and it kind of makes Davey look like a crybaby for caring.

Eddie went for the Dragon Sleeper but Davey blocked it. Davey got a Scorpion Deathlock variation early, but Eddie made it to the ropes. Davey sent Eddie to the floor and hit a soccer kick. Davey then connected with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Davey got an ankle lock, but Eddie escaped and got a heel hook. Davey escaped but walked into a back suplex and both men are down. Davey went for his handspring kick, but Eddie caught him and dumped him to outside. Eddie followed that up with a moonsault from the apron. Back in the ring, Eddie got an ankle lock and then stomped Davey's head in. Both men got to their feet and started trading strikes. Davey hit a double stomp, a running kick, and another double stomp: 1…2…NO! Both men went on the top rope and started to trade headbutts. Davey then hit a superplex, but Eddie rolled through and suplexed himself and Davey to the floor. Both men are down. That was a good spot. The both got back in the ring at ‘19' and started trading more strikes. Eddie gave Davey some Kobashi chops, but Davey came back with Davey kicks. More Kobashi chops. More Davey kicks. Kawada kicks from Davey and Eddie slaps Davey in the face repeatedly. Then they traded multiple backdrop drivers. Tiger Suplex from Eddie, but Davey came back with a Dragon suplex. Roderick Strong and the House of Truth came down at ringside for some ungodly reason and beat up Team Richards. Dan Severn then made the save, and carried Truth Martini out from ringside. What on Earth was that for? Davey and Eddie then got to their feet and traded more strikes. Eddie then Tiger Suplexed Davey into the corner, and Davey sold it like he was dead. Eddie went to finish him with a super Tiger Suplex, but Davey escaped. Eddie ran back to the turnbuckle and hit a top rope hurricanranna. Eddie then hit a John Woo kick and multiple powerbombs but Davey kicked out. Eddie then got the Dragon Sleeper, but Davey escaped to get a rollup. Eddie then hit a Tombstone and a 2K1 bomb: 1…2…NO! Davey came back with a super DRAGON Suplex (that Eddie wisely flipped during so as not to die): 1…2…NO! They ended up on the ring apron, and Davey gave Eddie an exploder to the floor. Eddie got back to the ring apron at ‘19' but Davey pounced and gave him a Dragon suplex on the apron. Davey was going for the countout win on that one. Eddie got back in the ring on ‘19' again. Davey had the look of "why won't you die?" Davey kicked him in the head two more times, but Eddie kicked out. Davey got an ankle lock, but Eddie escaped. Davey hit the running kick that got him the belt at Best in the World, but Eddie kicked out. More kicks to the head. 1…2…3. Davey looked pissed off that he had to kick Eddie in the head repeatedly to get the win.

First off, I have two big immediate complaints that don't require much explanation: 1.) ROH built up this Dragon Sleeper to be devastating and it basically meant nothing to the match. That was a lot of TV time wasted (although I could say that about a lot of the TV time used on that show) 2.) Dan Severn beating up Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin by himself is so fucking stupid. Just fucking stupid. Nothing else needs to be said about that.

I don't know what to think of this main event. If you are one of the people who have not liked Davey's work in the last year, this match was probably cannon fodder for you (I am not one of those people but that seemed worth noting). Judging by most of the hate that I have read for this match, I seemed to enjoy more than most, but it's not like I found it to be great or even very good. They worked their asses off, but they clearly were not giving the crowd what they wanted and the the end product didn't really add up to be anything special. The strikes and head dropping moves were over the top, but I guess it played into the story they were trying to tell (Davey was better than Eddie, but EDDIE DIES HARD!).

There is a thin line between borrowing principles from UFC's success and just trying desperately to look like UFC. The build for this match, and the match itself, seemed to be the latter. UFC is able to pop a buyrate and a rating when the big personalities take center stage and entertain people. ROH fans love the Briscoes and Kevin Steen because they are doing just that. It's not some bullshit "cheering the heels to be cool" thing. The Briscoes and Kevin Steen are by far the most entertaining acts in the promotion right now, and they are going to be cheered as such. Davey and Eddie pretending to be MMA fighters in 35+ minute matches is not what the ROH fans want.

Also, Eddie challenging for the belt always felt like a transition feud, because no one thought Davey was going to drop the belt after only defending it twice in ROH since he won the title in June. Davey vs. Steen is the next big ROH title match, and any title match before then is going to feel like filler (ie: Steen better challenge for the title at the next iPPV or that title match is not going to mean a thing). I have no idea where Eddie goes from here.
Match Rating: ***

Davey threw the belt down and got on the microphone. Davey put over Eddie, and KEVIN STEEN CAME OUT TO SAVE US! Steen says to shut the hell up and that he is going beat the shit out of Davey. Steen vows to take the title from Davey in 2012. Steen says that he will hold this company hostage because he is the anti-christ of pro-wrestling. End scene.



The 411: This was a strange show. The New York crowd was as quiet as I have ever heard them. I don't know if it was just a different crowd than usual, or if they were as lukewarm on the build to this PPV as I (and many other writers) were. There were definitely things to like about this show (most of those things had to do with Kevin Steen & El Generico), but the two main events left a lot to be desired.

ROH needs to take a long look in the mirror about how they spend their valuable television time. For four months, we have been supposed to rooting against the Briscoes but they have been babyface stars everywhere they go, and the crowd could not have been happier that they were the tag champs instead of Shelton and Charlie. Also, ROH spent money and TV time on this whole Dan Severn thing and it ended up meaning jack shit. Severn's "coaching" changed nothing about the match, and then on top of that, he was seen beating up both Roddy and Elgin. Why? It also needs to be mentioned how terrible the iPPV production was tonight. There were a lot of technical problems, but my biggest complaint by far was how bad the camera direction was. Whoever directed this iPPV should never do it again, because it was at near disaster levels at several points.

I think ROH also needs to reevaluate the iPPV format going forward. It's not just another DVD taping that people happen to be seeing live. PPVs need to be about putting the best of the best on screen at all times. For example, the C&C Wrestle Factory, The Bravados, Mike Bennett, and Ciampa are not ready for PPV matches. Period. Have them work all the house shows, try to get them over on TV but PPVs should be the best of the best. ROH should really look at Chikara's High Noon as a template for how to do iPPVs going forward. Tightening up these shows will do a lot for show quality.


Recommendation: Thumbs in the middle because at $15, it's not a bad value. There was a lot of good stuff on this show, but a lot of other things were either puzzling and/or didn't get over with the crowd.




Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to Twitter or at my email address: Shabang728@gmail.com. If you are a wrestling personality who would like to be interviewed by 411mania, you can also contact me in either of those ways.


PLUGS!

At my blog, I did an overview of the last four months in pro wrestling . I talk about all the promotions that I am following, and I give out various "awards" for the best performances over the last four months.

Be sure to check out some of my past 411 Interviews

Kevin Steen Part 1 & Part 2
Eddie Edwards
Johnny Gargano
Mike Quackenbush
Nigel McGuinness
Lance Hoyt/Vance Archer/Lance Archer
Adam Cole
Gran Akuma


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Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose.


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Comments (32)

 
The Steen segment was really awesome stuff. One of my favorite wrestling moments of the year. But I do agree overall the show didn't deliver from a "biggest show of the year" perspective

Posted By: Salom (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 08:26 AM

 
 
Agree on everything here but Briscoes/WGTT. I thought the booking of that match was so different that it was brilliant and helped cement the double-turn of the Briscoes from heels to faces and WGTT from faces to heels.

Plus? Backdrop suplexes onto the top of the guardrail from Charlie Haas to Mark Briscoe. YEAH-UH!!!


Posted By: AndrewCrow (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 08:29 AM

 
 
Dumb move by ROH to have a show on Xmas weekend and the same weekend NY Jets / NY Ginats are playing.

Posted By: earl (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 09:12 AM

 
 
ROH sux.

Posted By: Guest#4935 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 09:49 AM

 
 
Must have been too much wrestling and not enough talking for some people.

Posted By: Guest#2787 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 09:57 AM

 
 
I feel bad for Maria. ROH? Seriously?

Posted By: Andrew Barbarash (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 10:33 AM

 
 
A PPV with the wrestling's worst promo (Roderick Strong), a bad Stevie Richards clone (Rhett Titus), and an awful Edge clone (Chris Hero)?

Wow, where can I buy this gem?


Posted By: IWC=Douches (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 10:46 AM

 
 
ROH lost it's soul and personality something it had under Gabe.

Plus I hear they're Benoiting Rob Finestien (who is a friend of mind btw)


Posted By: The Rev (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 10:50 AM

 
 
A PPV with the wrestling's worst promo (Roderick Strong), a bad Stevie Richards clone (Rhett Titus), and an awful Edge clone (Chris Hero)?

Wow, where can I buy this gem?

Posted By: IWC=Douches (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 10:46 AM

Except for the fact that Hero has no fucking similarity to Edge at all other then being a tall long haired male.


Posted By: random (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:30 AM

 
 
ROH lost it's soul and personality something it had under Gabe.

Plus I hear they're Benoiting Rob Finestien (who is a friend of mind btw)

Posted By: The Rev (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 10:50 AM

I don't care that they don't celebrate Gabe and Feinstein, but they shouldn't be lying about the history of the promotion.


Posted By: TJ Hawke (Registered)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:31 AM

 
 
They're not behind El Generico and got rid of Cabana because Jim Cornette hates comedy gimmicks, for the most part. Unfortunately, this means that ROH is almost entirely without color or personality.

Posted By: Guest#1584 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:39 AM

 
 
Richards and Edwards' biggest problem is that they throw out so many goddamn moves and sell so few of them that none of the moves mean anything. Also, neither man knows how to work a crowd worth a damn-if the match isn't working, they just keep going according to plan, rather than attempt to improvise. Also, the Dan Severn subplot played absolutely no part in the match; the Dragon Sleeper was used once, Richards got out of it easily, and it was never seen or mentioned again. Utterly pointless. Terrible match, and I sure hope these two don't wrestle each other again. They're far better as tag wrestlers.

Posted By: Guest#4543 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:45 AM

 
 
Wow, do you even LIKE wrestling? FB2011 was among my favorite shows ever. I understand being jaded and hard to please.. but it sucks to be you, nerd!

Posted By: Guest#0167 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:46 AM

 
 
Wow, do you even LIKE wrestling? FB2011 was among my favorite shows ever. I understand being jaded and hard to please.. but it sucks to be you, nerd!

Posted By: Guest#0167 (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 11:46 AM

If you think I don't like wrestling, I suggest you go and read my column's archive.

http://www.411mania.com/user_profile.php?user_id=5330


Posted By: TJ Hawke (Registered)  on December 27, 2011 at 12:06 PM

 
 
Anti-christ of professional wrestling? So ROH are stealing gimmicks from TNA now? I seem to recall Jeff Hardy referring to himself as that from the start of his heel run in 2010.

Posted By: Gorsty (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 12:52 PM

 
 
I was at Final Battle live and it was my first NYC show and I gotta agree with many of your points. I enjoyed the show and think all wrestling is better live.

The crowd was pretty good most of the night but a 4.5 hour show will wear the craziest of wrestling fans down. The gauntlet was slow but had some solid wrestling. I also love the UFC comparisons with Richards and Edwards. I understand that the strong style is the new thing but I hated the psychology of the main event. At one point there was a group of fans chanting "This is awful" during Richards/Edwards but they got rebuffed.

The crowd was hottest for the Briscoes (i'm from Delaware and i don't think they'd get a bigger pop here) and the Steen/Corino match.

The TV title match might be underrated as well. The usher near us managed to get entranced in the match and she didn't even appear to have any interest in wrestling other wise.

If ROH lets Generico go for anything short of him getting called up to WWE or TNA (yuck), they're making a huge mistake, he's their strongest face character as evidenced by that match.


Posted By: L.L Ghoul J (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 01:15 PM

 
 
EXCEPT Gorsty, that Steen was doing the "Anti-Christ of Pro Wrestling" BEFORE Hardy and TNA.

Posted By: Berenstein Von Raschke (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 02:11 PM

 
 
This show was borderline disgusting in how far they've managed to drive RoH into the ground over the past year.

I got borderline sea/car sick while watching, as if I could actually FEEL the company's downward spiral.

Whoever has been writing/booking this stuff over the past year puts the very LEAST among their roster at the very top. I thought Richards/Edwards was boring and overrated when they were fighting for the TV Title... The bad omens were forming for RoH back then, but now it's just gone and charactured everything bad about their booking and their emphasis on the completely wrong guys. Best of luck in your future endevours, El Generico, one of the best guys RoH momentarily has left.

Also, as often as RoH fans do exactly as they are told, RoH is clearly getting too confident in that. They think the booking doesn't need to make sense or be exciting, because they expect the crowd to just go along with it. It's STARTING not to work, and that's been a long time coming.


Posted By: Carl (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 03:55 PM

 
 
Hey, Joe Koff is the CEO of Ring of Honor , not Jeff Kob. You might want to make a correction.

Posted By: Mark (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 04:51 PM

 
 
I was at the event live and the crowd was loud for a lot of things. They were quiet for the tag team gauntlet as I guess they were worn out from the steen match. They blew their lungs out for that one.

The Davey Eddie match was good. Not as good as the prior one where Davey won the belt which I attended as well.

The chair shots were excessive I agree and I honestly throught steen or corino might die for the suplex through the barricade as it had a metal leg sticking out.


Posted By: AN (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 05:52 PM

 
 
Hey, Joe Koff is the CEO of Ring of Honor , not Jeff Kob. You might want to make a correction.

Posted By: Mark (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 04:51 PM

Cheers, I must have just heard it wrong


Posted By: TJ Hawke (Registered)  on December 27, 2011 at 08:24 PM

 
 
I think Ring of Honor has suffered from oversaturation honestly. A tv show may be good for publicity, but it kinda takes the wind out of creative.

Posted By: mello yello enthusiast (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 09:36 PM

 
 
A PPV with the wrestling's worst promo (Roderick Strong), a bad Stevie Richards clone (Rhett Titus), and an awful Edge clone (Chris Hero)?

Wow, where can I buy this gem?

Posted By: IWC=Douches (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 10:46 AM

Except for the fact that Hero has no fucking similarity to Edge at all other then being a tall long haired male.

Posted By: random (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 11:30 AM

Fair point. Also, Edge was a damn good wrestler, Hero isn't.


Posted By: The Truth (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 10:42 PM

 
 
If you didn't like this show, I suggest you smoke a bit of cannabis and watch it again. This was the best paced show I've ever seen and any match on this card could mainevent any indy fed in the country. They built Steven as a monster world title contender, put the tagteam division into overdrive, made bennett a legit superstar and pushed generico into world title scene, and wow did you see the future when you looked at elgin and perkins or what? Hero was rusty but he and roddy told a great story. Listen merest, this was the industry show of the year and davey v rewards is the future of wrestling

Posted By: Guest#1734 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:24 PM

 
 
If you didn't like this show, I suggest you smoke a bit of cannabis and watch it again. This was the best paced show I've ever seen and any match on this card could mainevent any indy fed in the country. They built Steven as a monster world title contender, put the tagteam division into overdrive, made bennett a legit superstar and pushed generico into world title scene, and wow did you see the future when you looked at elgin and perkins or what? Hero was rusty but he and roddy told a great story. Listen merest, this was the industry show of the year and davey v rewards is the future of wrestling

Posted By: Guest#4288 (Guest)  on December 27, 2011 at 11:33 PM

 
 
If you didn't like this show, I suggest you smoke a bit of cannabis and watch it again. This was the best paced show I've ever seen and any match on this card could mainevent any indy fed in the country. They built Steven as a monster world title contender, put the tagteam division into overdrive, made bennett a legit superstar and pushed generico into world title scene, and wow did you see the future when you looked at elgin and perkins or what? Hero was rusty but he and roddy told a great story. Listen merest, this was the industry show of the year and davey v rewards is the future of wrestling

Posted By: Guest#4288 (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 11:33 PM

shut up, Cornette.


Posted By: Guest#0898 (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 01:44 AM

 
 
this was the industry show of the year and davey v rewards is the future of wrestling

Posted By: Guest#1734 (Guest) on December 27, 2011 at 11:24 PM

*vomits*


Posted By: Guest#3592 (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 01:46 AM

 
 
You really should get off of Steen's nuts because he really is not that good. He is fat, lazy and awful. El Generico is the charisma powerhouse that should be next in line for the ROH Title not the Biggest Slob in the World.

Posted By: Guest#0395 (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 07:23 AM

 
 
I thought it was a really good and entertaining show. But i didn't like the main event that much. The Best in the world match between Davey & Eddie was IMO really great but this match felt very off and was just to much. I know that both worked really hard but it felt like it was more a match and a feud for the people involved and not so much for the fans. And in the end i just wanted the match to end.

Posted By: Malte (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 10:10 AM

 
 
He said the WGTT had a terrible reign? WOW....had nothing but good/great matches since they got there and they were terrible. I would hate to speculate on what you think was decent then, little man.

Posted By: Erik (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 01:58 PM

 
 
WOW the ROHbots are even defending THIS pile of crap show..

If you've ever wondered if you're just a fan or if you're a ROHbot, if you praised this show you are for sure a ROHbot.


Posted By: Guest#9817 (Guest)  on December 28, 2011 at 03:15 PM

 
 
Oh man, where to start? The Tag Title match was a mess, and do the Briscoes really need the 7th reign? The main event was overbooked, and looked cartoony in spots. And I was hoping they'd keep Generico and Steen apart-- at least at first. I don't see Generico as a "comedy" character-- and he connects with the crowd like no other. On a positive note-- ohmyGAWD Maria was hot.

Posted By: sfly (Guest)  on December 30, 2011 at 12:48 AM

 


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