12 Biggest Stories From Ring Of Honor's Final Battle - And What They Mean For 2019
Championship bouts, a grueling Ladder War, The Elite's goodbye, and an Enterprise formed.
Ring Of Honor's 2018 has come and gone now that their yearly Final Battle pay-per-view has taken place. Friday's show was the seventeenth annual incarnation of ROH's seminal event and offered a satisfying conclusion to the year's biggest storylines, as well as provided some insight into what's to come in 2019.
Some new stars debuted on the show and its fallout, while others said their final goodbyes. Most notably, the majority of The Elite faction wrapped up their time with Ring Of Honor. Rumors have swirled about a possible new promotion on the way from the group, and on Friday, The Young Bucks, Cody, and Hangman Page were given a hero's farewell courtesy of the Hammerstein Ballroom crowd.
While The Elite is now gone, other top ROH stars will be around for the long-haul next year. Interestingly, Marty Scurll -- who will continue with the promotion -- quickly found himself some new friends. Meanwhile, top talents like Jay Lethal, the Briscoes, and Jeff Cobb had a successful night.
With technical showcases, hardcore brawls, a farewell, as well as a few surprises, let's look at all that happened at Final Battle and what the next year will bring for Ring Of Honor.
12. Zack Sabre Jr. Debuts And Beats Jonathan Gresham
Zack Sabre Jr’s noteworthy 2018 wrapped up in Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom with an impressive win. Come 4 January, the British superstar will challenge for the RevPro title against Tomohiro Ishii, but Friday night saw his Ring Of Honor debut. It was no easy night for the technical wizard however, as he met the equally skilled Jonathan Gresham who has scored impressive victories this year -- even challenging for Jay Lethal’s World title in April.
When the bell rang, the two immediately began countering each other -- neither man able to gain a strong advantage. The World of Sport-style classic of traditional catch wrestling eventually devolved into hard-hitting strikes. Repeated slaps led to a trickle of blood from Gresham’s mouth. In the final moments, he looked to defeat Sabre with his own signature bridging pin, but was blocked before Sabre executed one of his own.
While Jonathan Gresham has a high ceiling in Ring Of Honor, Final Battle saw him held down by the debuting ZSJ. Sabre's breakout year saw him capture the New Japan Cup among other highlights, and perhaps now he will also ascend through Ring of Honor's ranks toward championship gold.