Baltimore, MD – 12.10.2021

Commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.

The December 7th episode of Week By Week sees the Righteous in a warm-up match for their Six Man Tag Title challenge at Final Battle:

The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman & Dutch) vs. Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Gabriel Hodder & Matthew Omen)

Vita VonStarr is in the Righteous’ corner. Dutch demolishes Hodder, with Bateman giving his own “one more time” chant to encourage his partner. Hodder buys time with a chinbreaker to Bateman and tags in Omen. Bateman takes down Omen with a rolling neckbreaker. Bateman follows up with a modified powerbomb, and Vincent then gives him a Saito suplex and Complete Shot. Omen rolls into a heel kick to the back of Vincent’s head. Soriano’s DDT attempt is stopped by Vincent, who drops him with a modified Side Effect. Bateman slams him onto his face, and Dutch follows up with a Doctor Bomb. Hodder and Omen save Soriano from being pinned after Vincent hits him with Red Rum. Hodder and Omen do a little damage, but Bateman takes out Omen with This Is A Kill on the floor. Dutch catches Hodder with a Boss Man Slam. Vincent drops Soriano with Orange Sunshine for the pin at 6:58. This was more or less a squash for the Righteous en route to their title match, which is completely acceptable. If ROH comes back, I think Primal Fear have shown they are capable of more than being trios fodder. **½

Presumably because it played into Final Battle: Hour One, the December 8th Women’s Division Wednesday ft. an early showing of Chelsea Green vs. Miranda Alize from this week’s episode. My review for that match is below.

Now onto this week’s episode!

Falls Count Anywhere
PCO vs. Sledge

Holidead is on commentary for this bout. Sledge attacks first and hits a trashcan assisted pump kick to a seated PCO in the corner. On the outside, PCO gives Sledge a side Russian leg sweep into the barricades. Back towards the entrance, Sledge backdrops PCO onto a ladder slightly propped up onto the ring. During the commercial, Sledge suplexed PCO onto the ladder and backdropped PCO onto two chairs in the ring, but PCO managed to rope walk his way into pulling off a Frankensteiner. PCO gets two after a top rope splash. Sledge gets his knees up to block the PCOsault and small packages him for two. Outside, PCO hits Sledge with a chair to get him laid out on a table. PCO then lands a somersault senton off the top and through the table on the floor! Sledge incredibly gets his shoulder up before the three count is rendered. Near the commentation station they hit one another with chair shots. Sledge uses the chair as a launching pad to crossbody a seated PCO off the barricade and to the floor. Sledge hits the Detox DDT on the entrance stage and PCO sits right up! Sledge then hits the Detox DDT off the stage and through two tables filled with production equipment! Sledge drapes his arm over PCO and pins him at 14:59. That was a very entertaining brawl, and definitely played into both competitors’ strengths’. It’s nice that this story thread was wrapped up before PCO left ROH, and it puts Sledge in a nice position for if and when ROH returns in 2022. ***¼

Chelsea Green vs. Miranda Alize

This is Green’s in-ring ROH TV debut. The Allure of Angelina Love and Mandy Leon are on commentary for this bout. Alize rolls to the floor after Green gives her a version of the Natural Selection. Alize baits Green into a dropkick off the apron. After sending Green into the barricades, Alize lands a springboard basement Frankensteiner on Green for two back in the ring. Green comes back with a Code Breaker. She trips Alize into a dropkick to the side of the head for two. Green also wipes out Alize with a missile dropkick for two. Alize ripcords Green into a knee strike and delivers a GTS for two. Green avoids a charging Alize and stomps her face first into the second turnbuckle. She applies a half crab. Leon and Love distract Green from behind the barricades, allowing Alize to surprise Green with a cutter and the Drive By for the pin at 9:54. This was a really good showing for Green, and even though the finish was disappointing, it was a solid way to add some fervor to the six woman tag on Final Battle Hour One. **¾

Eli Isom vs. EC3

Dalton Castle is on commentary for this match, but he’s so busy that he takes a phone call during the bout and even has his mute baby chicks stand in for him at one point. Isom controls EC3 by his left arm. EC3 ear claps Isom, but Isom jams his arm over the top rope. EC3 runs into the ropes when Isom tries a springboard move, and Isom falls shoulder first onto the mat. He sends Isom sternum first into the corner. A fired up Isom throws a flurry of punches at EC3. EC3 has to grab Isom in a front facelock and drop him with an SDT to stop his onslaught. He muscles up Isom into a powerbomb. Isom gets in a flurry of offense, ending with a spin-out back suplex. He successfully pulls off a springboard dropkick to send EC3 to the outside and follows with a Bermuda Triangle. In the ring, EC3 chop blocks Isom’s knee and gives him an Angle Slam. Isom almost pins EC3 when reversing his double underhook facebuster. EC3 hits it the second time and locks in the Purpose. Isom taps out at 16:15. It’s very nice to see Isom given a main event match and look really strong, but boy am I just so out on anything involving EC3. Hopefully it leads to something good for Isom. Castle on commentary was the highlight for sure. **¾

Overall: Why the Falls Count Anywhere match didn’t main event I do not know. If you’ve been paying attention to ROH this, that’s the one match worth checking out. If you have already watched Final Battle, you already know what the other two matches led to.

NEXT WEEK: A “Top Prospect Special” episode ft. a four way match between Eric Martin, Adrien Soriano, Rayo and Joe Keys, Dante Caballero vs. Matt Makoswki, and a battle between two former Top Prospect tournament winners, Dak Draper vs. Josh Woods!