9 Ups & 3 Downs From ROH Final Battle 2022

4. Samoa Joe Vs. Juice Robinson's Positioning

Some may have been a little surprised to see Samoa Joe retain the ROH TV Title against Juice Robinson - with many predicting a Wardlow-driven title change - but regardless of the result, the match was placed in the perfect spot on the Final Battle card.

Admittedly, Joe vs. Juice was another bout which had minimal build to it, and thus the crowd response to the match was always going to reflect that. As such, the crowd wasn't all that into the action here... but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Coming off the back of a phenomenal, brutal war between the Briscoes and FTR, the crowd was always going to be dead for what came after a genuine Match of the Year contender. By putting the lowkey TV Title match on after the double dog collar banger, that allowed for the audience to catch its collective breath and have time to come back up for the ROH World Title match which was to follow.

Sure, it wasn't particularly a great spot for Joe and Robinson to be in, but somebody had to be in that spot, and positioning the TV Title contest after Briscoes vs. FTR III was a smart decision by Tony Khan.