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Ring of Honor will present the 2019 Final Battle PPV in Baltimore, Maryland this Friday night. Here's our take on what will happen.
ROH World Champion Rush vs PCO.
Dave: As the old fart here at the site, I love what PCO has been doing, even if he scares me for his safety at times. With that said, it's way too early to have Rush lose. He is a young stud and as much as I love PCO, he's near the end of the road. Middle aged and crazy made sense with Terry Funk and ECW due to them needing to get on the map but here? I don't think it does. With that said, this should be really good and hopefully elevates Rush in the process.
Mike: I know someone will think I am crazy here, but I don't think the Rush experiment has set the world on fire, so let's give PCO a nice lifetime achievement award moment here and let him have a short run with the title, just like ROH did with Jerry Lynn years ago. I say let them have a great brawl and PCO gets the win. If Marty Scurll is staying, that is your bridge to get the title to him down the line. PCO is unique and different and no one else in pro wrestling has someone like him. Put the belt on him for a short run. It can give Rush a chance to get pissed and have something to chase after his first major singles loss in the company. ROH needs something to spark it - why not the French Frankenstein?
Richard: If you asked people a year ago to name who would be main eventing Final Battle this weekend, I don’t think they would have gotten either name right. This is time for Rush to prove that he deserves to be champion and for PCO to prove to everyone that his second act is not complete. I don’t think it is time to take the title off Rush, but I think there will be a few times during the match when it will look like PCO will walk out with the title. Rush retains.
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers vs. Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal.
Dave: With Jay coming back from the injury, I like the idea of him and Gresham getting the gold. I would book that.
Mike: Lethal is coming back from a broken arm, so we don't know how he'll be after the first major injury of his career. Gresham has been on fire as a heel and the Briscoes are always awesome. I call a title change here. I can easily see Lethal and Gresham as a franchise team and The Briscoes are made men as the forefathers of ROH, so no harm in giving them someone to feud with and trade the belts back and forth with.
Richard: Is this the night that we see Gresham and Lethal go full blown heel in their chance to become World Tag Team Champions or will Lethal get Gresham to come back from the dark side we have seen from him lately. This should be a very good match and it can be justified for either team to win. I think this is when they take the titles off The Briscoes, but the question is if the Briscoes are not going to get the titles back from Lethal and Gresham, who are the next challengers?
ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee.
Dave: Dragon Lee is really insanely good and is the the kind of guy that is just fun to watch. So, do you have him win the belt or have Taylor get elevated by beating him? I go with the latter.
Mike: I love Shane Taylor's work but I think a title change is warranted here. Taylor has been the unstoppable guy for some time but Dragon Lee is an awesome talent with an incredible international pedigree. ROH could use some of the buzz that just came with him signing with New Japan for themselves and I call a title change here.
Richard: Shane Taylor has been able to showcase his talents as the television champion. This will be an interesting match because of the different styles of the two wrestlers. I think Taylor will be able to withstand Lee’s offense and successfully defend the title in a match that could steal the show.
Matt Taven vs Vincent.
Dave: Taven needs a big performance to get his momentum back and this is where it should happen. He needs to come out of this strong.
Mike: This needs to be a vicious brawl with Taven showing some real fire as a babyface after all that has happened. If they just lock up or Vincent is being a stalling heel, it's going to die a quick death. This needs to be about VENGEANCE and it needs to be a really physical looking fight. To me, the most sense comes out of Vincent getting the win so Taven has something to chase but if they are serious about making Taven a big-time babyface, he needs to look like an ass-kicker here.
Richard: It has not been a good fall for Matt Taven. First, he loses the World Title and then he loses the Kingdom when Vincent turned on him. I think Matt will see some good come out of Final Battle when he vanquishes Vincent. Do we see some help from former members of the Kingdom to assist Matt or will they show up and turn against him.
Mark Haskins (with Vicky Haskins) vs. Bully Ray - Street Fight.
Dave: Bully is the vet there to get heat and then give it. He does that here when Haskins wins.
Mike: If this is the end of the storyline, I suspect Bully will do everything to get his licks in, end up slapped by Vicky Haskins at some point and then Mark finally gets his revenge. If they intend to carry this further, then they need a big angle here with Ray being a vicious SOB and laying him out to get more sympathy on Haskins.
Richard: Haskins is one of the people who were boosted short term with Lifeblood but then they were gone. Bully will probably do the right thing and Haskins will win the match. I would not be surprised to see Vicky get involved in the match and gets a few shots in on Bully.
Jeff Cobb vs. Danny Maff
Dave: This will be a LOT of fun (for me to watch, maybe not for them to work). I know that there is a feeling that they should give Maff the win since he just returned, and I get that, but Cobb is a core guy so I book it in NXT style where Cobb gets taken to the limit, gets the win, and Maff is elevated too.
Mike: I am SO looking forward to this one. Maff just signed and ROH needs to establish him. I say they go back and forth with big moves and power spots but in the end, Maff gets the win here. Cobb won't lose anything from the loss and they can build a rivalry here, but the audience needs to be told Maff is a player, or else what was the point in signing him?
Richard: This is the epitome of a Hoss Match. With Maff getting another chance in the company, this might be the time to give him the big win over Jeff Cobb. However, I think Cobb is definitely one of the guys ROH has to use as the focus of the company in 2020. A valiant effort for Maff falls short against Cobb.
Angelina Love vs. Maria Manic
Dave: Maria has to win here, right?
Mike: The ONLY way to book this is the way WWE used Ultimate Warrior in the past in my opinion. Love bumps all over in a short match and Maria looks like a beast before pinning her clean. Anything else is a waste of time given how Manic has been introduced. ROH needs to make stars. Make one here.
Richard: With all of the hype for Maria, do they not give her the victory over Angelina? Will we see Mandy get involved to help Angelina? Give Maria a convincing win and make her the face of the women’s division in 2020. Does this match get turned into an interim Women of Honor title match?
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon) vs. Bandido and Flamita
Dave: It all comes down to Marty's secret Scull. Is he staying or going? If he is going, have him do the job. If he is staying? Well have him win and push him hard. He's one of the company's top commodities.
Mike: This should be excellent on paper. The question looming over this match is whether Marty Scurll is staying or not. If ROH has him SIGNED, he should go over with a pinfall on Bandido. If he is not SIGNED AND SEALED, Flamita, the company's latest addition, should be pinning Scurll clean. I have heard Villain Enterprises figures in a major way into future creative plans, so hopefully Scurll is locked in.
Richard: Does the future of Marty Scurll determine the result of this match? If he stays do you give them the win? I would love to see Bandido show the flashes we saw from him at the start of the Lifeblood run that seem to have been ignored recently. Flamita will probably have a good showing and Gordon eats the 21Plex as Bandido and Flamita earn the win.
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