Torch correspondent Matt Smith attended both of Ring of Honor's final two shows in New York City this past weekend. He filed the following reports with his thoughts and perspective on the shows.

ROH PPV taping report
December 29, 2007 in New York City
Report by Matt Smith, PWTorch correspondent

Nigel McGuiness vs. Austin Aries is so MUST see, it's not even funny. I expected a great match, but I regard this on equal ground as Nigel vs. Danielson from ROH's second PPV, or even better. It's THAT good. Aries did a SICK 360 bump off the top turnbuckle onto the floor after taking a Lariat. That was just one of many, many highlights. Nigel hasn't lost a step in the least bit. I know people talk about the 2007 that Morishima had, but McGuinness deserves great credit as well.

Speaking of Morishima, his latest war with Danielson was also excellent, although the DQ finish - while making sense from a storyline standpoint - bummed me out. Still these two have Taker-Batista chemistry. I'm hoping for a Cage match possibly at the next taping.

Most people are probably sick of it, but I can't get enough Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli. Another very good match. Larry Sweeney belongs on Impact or any WWE television show. Here's a guy who gets heel heat just for blinking and he's a fabulous talker.

Daniel Puder as part of Sweet n' Sour Inc. should be fun. I liked his work in OVW as an updated version of Tazz, and think he'll surprise a lot of people.

The Tag Team Scramble match featuring The Vulture Squad, Age of The Fall, Hangmen Three, and Steen & Generico was probably the best Scramble match I've seen yet. Yeah, it was a total cluster, but in an entertaining fashion. Jack Evans doing an Shooting Star Press onto the unfortunate saps outside the ring was incredible. I'm glad to see that Steen & Generico are still viable on the roster, as I feared they would fade following the Briscoes feud.

Brent Albright wearing the mask he stole from Delirious during their match was great. Albright continues to prove WWE missed the boat in letting him go. Match was a solid opener.

Tammy Sytch had a great outing when she got involved with Lacey and knocked her out of the ring. She was acting as if she'd never been gone, or missed a step.

Hilariously enough, Bushwhacker Luke got the biggest pop out of all the guests there. I wasn't totally surprised though since it was N.Y., and there were plenty of old school WWF fans in the house. What a sight seeing them do the Bushwhacker march in unison.

***

ROH "Final Battle 2007" Report
December 30, 2007 in New York City
Report by Matt Smith, PWTorch correspondent

I attended Final Battle 2005 and 2006, and both those shows were the best shows I'd been to in those respective years. This year, I went to the NYC show with KENTA v. Misawa, the Edison, N.J. PPV taping with Nigel winning the title from Morishima, and some real good shows sprinkled in between. However, at this moment, I'd have to say my favorite show of 2007 is once again Final Battle.

I kid you not that the effort put forth by the likes of Necro Butcher, Jack Evans, Austin Aries, The Age of The Fall, Morishima, Hero, Danielson, and the Briscoes is like nothing else I've ever seen in all my years as a wrestling fan. They all took bumps to the concrete I'd never take for $10 million dollars. I still wonder if some fans truly appreciate the sacrifices those men made - and all the others that worked last night - for an awesome experience.

Hero vs. Morishima vs. Aries vs. Danielson ranks in my top five for Match of the Year from any company. The only other matches I'd place ahead of them are Cena vs. Michaels II and Aries vs. McGuiness from Saturday night. Four of the most talented workers on the planet put together a match that has to be seen to believe. Hero was at both his comedic and wrestling best. and I think he'd make an ideal World Champion down the line.

Necro Butcher vs. Jack Evans was also another outstanding match, though in a different sense. Most purists dismiss Evans as a "spot monkey" but here, he busted his ass and Necro hung right with him. Evans taking a sidewalk slam onto two folded-out chairs and Necro taking a sunset flip powerbomb onto the concrete was sick. ... Just plain sick.

And then there was Kevin Steen & El Generico & Delirious vs. The Hangmen Three. Brent Albright did a suplex showcase on Delirious through about five tables, and, collectively, they must have broken at least 20 tables during the match. They still managed to do actual moves to keep the flow going. Bushwhacker Luke's random run-in and Pelle Primeau's return were only icing on the cake. Adam Pearce's top rope piledriver through a table on Delirious was also SICK, and that gave them the victory.

Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs vs. The Briscoes - that's when I just threw my hands up and thought they were ALL insane. Black took a Doomsday Device off the apron onto the concrete floor! Need I say more? All four had so many tough acts to follow and they delivered an outstanding tag team match. Funniest part was the crowd booing the hell out of ATOF and then chanting "Age of The Fall" when they won the titles.

The other matches like Castagnoli vs. Sweeney, Strong vs. Stevens, and Marafuji vs. Richards were all also very good. Bobby Fish had a great debut with Matt Cross in losing to Ruckus and Jigsaw. Rocky Romero had a lot of balls even working the show despite his concussion. The two minutes he spent squashing Ernie Osiris were a minute too long if you ask me, considering his health.

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