ROH TV results: Briscoes vs. Addiction on the Final Battle go-home show

Ring of Honor television from this past week was the go-home show leading to Final Battle. Taped in Baltimore and featuring the final hype for ROH’s biggest show of the year, the show also arguably featured two good matches.  

Alex Shelley provided guest commentary on the first match alongside announcers Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. Shelley gushed about both wrestlers in the opening match.

Lio Rush defeated Jonathan Gresham

These two had a heck of a match. Rush continues to shine when given any opportunity. Gresham more than held his own as well in this one. They did some chain wrestling and flashy exchanges in the early portion of the match. Traditionalists might not like the fast pace and lack of long selling, but the excitement seen was impressive.

As the match progressed, the spots became more physical and more intricate. They exchanged many near falls down the stretch. Gresham kicked out of a Rush Hour finisher. Moments later, Rush downed him with the Rush Hour a few more times before he leapt off the top with a very high frog splash. Rush then covered him for the pinfall.

Afterwards, Chris Sabin joined Shelley at ringside. They had “business” to attend to. On the house mic, Shelley first put over the previous match and its participants. Sabin called them the future of ROH. They are taking on a mentor role, according to commentary from Kevin Kelly. Motor City Machine Guns were almost over-the-top in being babyfaces. Maybe that is a sign that this leads to a heel turn down the line.

A sit-down promo with Kyle O’Reilly hyped the main event for Final Battle. On the PPV, O’Reilly challenges Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship. In this promo, O’Reilly talked about their history leading into the title match. He talked about them teaming back in the day in Future Shock and their transition from friends to enemies.

O’Reilly also mentioned that Cole has continually cost him winning the World title. O’Reilly vowed to win the title at Final Battle. He brought up a previous bloodbath they had in the Hammerstein Ballroom, which is also the site of this year’s Final Battle. The promo was tremendous and was edited together well to include clips of their history. Watch it here.

Later in the show, the final segment was Cole’s rebuttal. He talked about many of the same things as O’Reilly, except he put his spin on it. Edited together with clips of their history like the earlier promo, it got over the story they are trying to tell. Watch Cole’s promo here.

In another hype segment, a Final Battle control center rundown talked about the full card for Final Battle.

The Briscoes defeated The Addiction

Addiction refused to participate in the Code of Honor handshake beforehand. That would play into the aftermath following the lengthy match. It went through two commercials breaks, which is fitting since the match basically had three stages.

The first stage led to Mark and Jay Briscoe shining as they looked to dispatch Daniels and Kazarian. In the second stage, Addiction worked over Mark, getting heat on him to build to the hot tag.

In the third and final stage, Jay ran wild off a hot tag. Addiction got in some near falls during the match, and the two teams had heated exchanges in the closing moments. Lots of big moves at the end. Mark kicked out after Celebrity Rehab. A few moments later, Briscoes blocked a Best Meltzer Ever.

Eventually, Jay took out Kazarian with a Death Valley Driver. Daniels then took a Jay Driller, and Mark followed up with a Froggy-bow before covering Daniels for the pin.

After the match, The Briscoes offered their hands for Addiction to shake. A tense staredown ensued until Addiction relented and shook their hands just as the show closed.

The next episode of ROH TV features an eight-man tag match.