Witnessing Ring of Honor’s Final Battle

It’s been a few days since witnessing Ring of Honor’s Final Battle, a surreal experience that I’m still processing.

Unlike fellow ROH diehard Steven Jackson, I only started watching in 2015. My fandom waned as WWE’s product wasn’t appealing anymore and I had stopped watching Impact after Sting, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe left. A friend suggested I check out ROH, which had just landed a television deal with Destination America.

The first episode I saw had faces I recognized like Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, but I was also introduced to ReDragon, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. The second episode had the contract signing for the ROH World Championship match between Jay Briscoe and one of my all-time favorites, Jay Lethal, for that weekend’s Best in the World pay-per-view.

I was hooked.

My first time ordering an ROH PPV was All Star Extravaganza two months later. The main event saw Adam Cole screw O’Reilly out of the world title. Somehow, I was even more invested. I ordered Final Battle in December to see what would be AJ Styles’ last match before going to WWE six weeks later. Lethal was booked as a proper champion, meanwhile the likes of Roderick Strong and War Machine were adding credibility to ROH’s other titles.

I only stopped watching for a short period of time in 2019 largely due to the beginning of AEW and just life overall. When news broke regarding the “end of an era” in ROH, I knew I had to go to Baltimore for perhaps the company’s final show, fittingly Ring of Honor’s Final Battle.

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By 5:30 p.m. last Saturday, my dad and I were standing outside waiting for the doors to open. Several hundred people were around us and you could see enthusiasm in some faces while others were somber. As the doors opened, everyone flocked to the merchandise tables. It was chaotic the whole time, but the workers did everything they could to help everyone as much as possible.

They ran a “going out of business” sale. T-shirts were in cardboard boxes with a price tag of “$2” written in Sharpie. DVDs were on sale for a fraction of the price. I walked away spending $30 on four DVDs, but these shows would have totaled $85 on the website, not including the shipping charges and taxes. The only complaint I heard from some at the end of the night was that the tables were packed up by show’s end and there were people who didn’t get a chance to check things out because of the earlier mess.

As Hour One began, emotion began to pour over me. I found myself lost in the moment with some of the tributes at the end of matches. Mandy Leon getting her bow was the right call for a woman who spent her whole career in ROH, helping to create a respected division twice. Seeing Rhett Titus getting his first ROH singles title was amazing and so overdue. The “You Deserve It” chants were deafening. Shane Taylor and Kenny King having their moment at the end of the Fight Without Honor was breathtaking considering they almost killed each other.

When the main events arrived is when I lost it. The three-count coming down for The Briscoes winning #12 had me teary eyed. All emotion turned to excitement upon seeing FTR and The Briscoes have their brawl.

Seeing Jay Lethal return for the match with Jonathan Gresham hit weird and I could tell it was the same feeling in the crowd. Nobody knew if it would be the last ROH match ever, but we all felt that this was truly the end of the era. When the roster came down for the final minutes of the match, I cried. Seeing everyone ringside cheering on Lethal and Gresham was easily the greatest thing I had seen at a live wrestling show. When Gresham was crowned champion, he addressed the crowd, as well as the roster. I had an out-of-body experience. I didn’t want it to end.

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I peeked through one of the curtains one last time to see the roster walking around the lower floor level shaking hands with fans and the crew beginning to clean and take apart the ring. Ring of Honor’s Final Battle graphic was still on the big screen. I stopped and all I could say to myself was “Thank you, ROH.”

I turned around to leave, only to see Shane Taylor, Silas Young and an unidentified third man down the hallway. I considered going up and saying hi, but I knew they likely had enough going on the for the night. The only regret I have was not going up and at least saying “thank you” for their blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice. I should’ve also thanked them for making me a fan. I hope to see them in other companies soon.

I’ll never forget what ROH did for me throughout the years and all the memories the nearly 20-year promotion created. I’m working backwards in time with the hope to one day see the shows I missed when ROH was at its best, while I lived the delusion that WWE was the only thing around.

ROH helped me realize that pro wrestling is an art. ROH will always hold a special place in my heart and while I don’t agree with the decision to shut down for the next few months to “reimagine,” ROH will always have my love and respect.

Honor lives forever.