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Arena Reports
12/30 ROH Final Battle 2007: Danielson vs. Aries vs. Hero vs. Morishima: "Greatest Match I Have Ever Seen Live." Dec 31, 2007 - 11:30:24 AM
Ring of Honor: Final Battle 2007
December 30, 2007
New York City, N.Y.
Report by Steve Vasquez, PWTorch correspondent
Pre Show match: Bobby Dempsey defeated Mitch Franklin; Bobby is insanly over, second biggest pop of the night. You could see Cary and Gabe in awe over it.
(1) The Vulture Squad (Ruckus & Jigsaw w/ Julius Smokes) defeated Matt Cross & Bobby Fish. Solid opener, can't complain.
(2) Larry Sweeney (w/ Tank Toland, Daniel Puder, Bobby Dempsey, Sara Del Ray) defeated Claudio Castagnoli; really short match. Sweeney cut a promo before the match about how Claudio can't wrestle because of what Puder did to him the night before. Claudio came out and said he had a contact and if Larry didn't wrestle he'd be out of ROH. Sweeney got the win after Puder intefered.
(3) No DQ Match: Jack Evans (w/Julius Smokes) defeated Necro Butcher (w/Lacey). Really great stuff, lots of cool spots. Evans got the win after interference from Lacey was stopped by Mercedes Martinez. Martinez is the new woman in The Vulture Squad.
(4) Noamichi Marufugi defeated Davey Richards. Excellent match, Marufugi could get a great match out of a broomstick though.
(5) Tables Are Legal Match: The Hangm3n (Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright w/ Shane Hagadorn) defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico & Delirious. Bushwacker Luke and Pelle Primeau both interjected themselves on behalf of Steenerico/Delierious. Great match, totally insane spots. Has to be seen to be believed. Pearce won with Piledriver from top rope (standing on a table) onto table in the ring.
INTERMISSION - Bushwacker Luke signed autos
(6) Rocky Romero defeated Ernie Osirus. Squash.
Nigel cut a promo about how he can't wrestle tonight, teased handing over the title. Half the crowd loved him, half hated him. He kept the title and told the haters to screw themselves.
(7) FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Erick Stevens defeated Roderick Strong(c) to win the title. Really awesome match I'm sort of disappointed that the people in front of me shat on the match before it began.
(8) #1 Contendership for ROH World Title, Four-Way Fray: Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries and Chris Hero and Takeshi Morishima. Is it too late for MOTY. Greatest match I have ever seen live. Just top notch stuff I have never seen anything like it. Morishima was eliminated first followed by Hero and finally Aries. The Danielson-Aries finish was insane. Aries wouldn't shake Danielson's hand after the match.
(9) ROH World Tag Team Title Match: The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black w/ Lacey) defeated The Briscoe Brothers (Jay & Mark Briscoe)(c). Another amazing match that could qualify for an ROH MOTYC. Totally out of this world, AOTF won after Contra Code off Tyler Black/Black corkscrew moonsault type for the pin.
NOTES: Overall, could be up there with ROH's top shows for 2007. Crowd was smaller but still pretty big for a Sunday afternoon/late evening. Crowd was also pretty hot throughout. Has to be seen to be believed.
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