Jonathan Gresham wins ROH World title at Final Battle

One era ended and another began at tonight’s ROH Final Battle event, where four titles changed hands, including the ROH World Championship.

Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal to win the title after submitting Lethal with the octopus stretch. The entire locker room had emptied out prior to the finish. Jordynne Grace, Gresham’s wife, entered the ring as Gresham was presented with the old ROH World Championship and had his hand raised by former ROH owner Cary Silkin. The show closed with Gresham celebrating his first title win.

The main event for tonight’s pay-per-view was originally set to be ROH World Champion Bandido facing Gresham. However, the company announced two days prior to the show that Bandido had to pull out due to testing positive for COVID-19. As a result, Lethal, who is now signed to All Elite Wrestling, took Bandido’s place. It was announced during the first hour of Final Battle that the winner would be awarded the ROH World Championship.

The ROH Six-Man, Tag Team, and Television titles also changed hands.

Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, and O’Shay Edwards) to win the ROH Six-Man titles after Vincent hit Orange Sunshine on Edwards for the win. This marks the end of Shane Taylor Promotion’s run with the titles, having won them on the episode of Ring of Honor television that aired on February 10 of this year.

Rhett Titus won the ROH Television Championship, defeating Champion Dalton Castle, Silas Young, and Joe Hendry in a four-way match, pinning Young with a dropkick after he dodged a springboard splash. Castle had only won the title recently, defeating Dragon Lee on the episode of ROH TV that aired on November 21.

The Briscoes won their twelfth ROH World Tag Team Championship tonight, defeating OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett). After the match, the team cut a promo, saying they would take on any challengers. This led to the lights going out, and when they came on, AEW’s FTR appeared on the apron. Both teams soon engaged in a pull-apart brawl, eventually having to be separated.