After successfully defending the ROH World Television Championship against Keith Lee, Samoa Joe decided to vacate the title so he can focus on his pursuit of the AEW World Title. This is what happens when you book yourself into a corner. Tony Khan would then announce that the Survival of the Fittest tournament would be resurrected to determine the new champion, and I do like that. I hate that Joe vacated the title, but I won’t deny that I like that method of crowning a champion.

The Survival of the Fittest for many years was a one-night tournament, but in the television era, it evolved into a multi-week or multi-event tournament. This would be the case once again, with “eliminator” matches taking place to determine the six entrants into the Survival of the Fittest match to determine the new ROH World Television Champion at Final Battle 2023.

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Dalton Castle vs. Evil Uno
ROH on HonorClub #40 – Chicago, IL – 11.30.2023

The Boys are in Castle’s corner. Castle is full of energy to start. He and Uno duck each other’s strikes in the corner until Uno grabs Castle by his hair and chops him to the floor. Castle gets his energy back when he’s thrown out a second time, re-entering the ring with a clothesline and a knee to the side of Uno’s head. Uno drives him back first into the ring apron and sends him into the ring steps when he throws him to the floor again. In the ring, Uno scores a nearfall with a backbreaker. Uno also holds onto the top turnbuckle to block a Bang-A-Rang, and takes Castle down with a half-hatch suplex. Castle rolls to the floor after Uno takes him down with a pair of clotheslines. Uno follows and shoves the Boys out of the way, but that lapse in focus gives Castle a chance to come back with a trifecta of suplexes. He only gets two with a reverse sling blade face buster and rattles Uno with a back elbow to block another clothesline. He pushes Uno into the ropes and catches him on the rebound with the Bang-A-Rang for the pin at 7:29. This was fun and simple. Uno wore down Castle’s back to try and block the Bang-A-Rang, and when Castle eventually hit it, he won. There’s beauty in its simplicity. **½

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Komander vs. Gringo Loco
ROH on HonorClub #40 – Chicago, IL – 11.30.2023

Alex Abrahantes is in Komander’s corner. When Komander tries to get cute with a back handspring fake out, Loco pulls him to the floor by his hands and sends him face first into the ring post. Back in the ring, Komander halts Loco coming off of the middle rope with a wristlock takedown. Komander slingshots Loco to the floor, with Loco’s back hitting the apron along the way. Komanger then follows him out with a step-up springboard Frankensteiner! He follows that up with a springboard 450 Splash in the ring for two. Loco sends Komander to the apron and pulls him up to the top turnbuckle. Komander however stops Loco and hops onto his shoulders in a seated position while Loco is standing on the ring apron. Loco turns Komander around and powerbombs him onto the ring apron! The Gringo Cutter follows, but only gets Loco a two count. Komander kicks out Loco’s legs from underneath him when Loco is ascending the ropes and brings him down with an avalanche Frankensteiner for two. Loco ends up crotching Komander on the top turnbuckle and climbing back up, bringing him down with an inside out Spanish Fly for two. Loco misses a springboard moonsault. Komander roundhouse kicks Loco before dropping him off of his shoulders into a gut buster. Komander’s rope walk shooting star press then gets him the pin at 11:01. That was basically a game of Lucha one-upmanship and the crowd was into it. Loco always delivers against his Lucha brethren, but he has not won a match in so long that it’s tough to buy him as any sort of threat. I’ve saidROH should turn the TV title into a showcase title for the luchadores, and if Komander wins and does exactly that, I’d be pleased. ***¼

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Lee Johnson vs. Josh Woods
ROH on HonorClub #41 – Erie, PA – 12.7.2023

Johnson looks to neutralize Woods’ strength by attacking his left arm. Woods hip tosses Johnson over the top rope and to the floor where he slams him into the barricades. Woods throws knee strikes to Johnson’s midsection to further wear him down. Johnson’s speed enables him to take back over, and he earns a nearfall with an Eye of the Hurricane. Woods pummels Johnson’s mid-section to counter a superplex into his own super twisting neckbreaker, but only for a two count. Johnson counters a Chaos Theory and superkicks Woods. Woods kicks Johnson in the mid-section and then delivers a knee strike before muscling up Johnson into a Doctor Bomb. Woods is angered when Johnson gets his shoulder up, and he waits for Johnson to get to his feet before pouncing. Johnson side-steps a pumping knee strike in the corner, superkicks Woods, and then lands a frog splash for the pin at 7:36. I’m a fan of Woods and would have liked to see him advance to the finals, but at the same time, I am glad they’re giving somebody new the spotlight. The fans were into Johnson and seemed genuinely surprised by the upset which is a nice bonus. Hopefully Johnson will get some time to shine in his ROH PPV debut. ***

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Tracy Williams vs. Lee Moriarty
ROH on HonorClub #41 – Erie, PA – 12.7.2023

You can feel the aggression early on with Williams going for a crossface early and Moriarty looking for a Border City Stretch in response. Neither of them get the hold fully applied, so that aggression turns into trading overhand chops and forearm strikes. Moriarty scores big by kicking Williams’ left arm when Williams blocks a face smash into the top turnbuckle and takes him down with a big boot. Moriarty shows off his neck bridge after suplexing Williams and then puts him in the London Dungeon. Williams maneuvers his way out of it, but Moriarty swipes his leg and dropkicks him in the side of the head. Williams sneaks in a schoolboy pin for two, and Moriarty sends him into the middle turnbuckle with a Complete Shot. Williams then catches a scissors kick mid-move and powerbombs Moriarty. Moriarty kicks him in the left arm twice but is caught on the third attempt. Williams strikes him before taking him down with a leg-capture Saito suplex. He DDT’s Moriarty onto the top turnbuckle and blasts him with a rolling lariat for two. His arm is too hurt for a piledriver, but he is able to apply a crossface. Moriarty twists his fingers to get Williams to release the hold and bring him to his feet. Moriarty snaps his fingers and rattles him with an enzuigiri before putting him away with The Thang (a high-elevated Complete Shot) for the pin at 6:29. Even though all the matches aren’t happening on the same night, to me this felt in the spirit of a true Survival of the Fittest match. By that I mean that they were aggressive right from the get-go and wanted to wrap the match up as quickly as possible. Moriarty showed off so much personality through his emotions, being angry and frustrated on offense and cavalier on offense, while Williams was hot-headed and focused, which is exactly why Moriarty needed to throw him off by snapping his fingers. Based on this performance, I would love for Moriarty to win this whole thing. ***¼

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Gravity vs. Kyle Fletcher
ROH on HonorClub #41 – Erie, PA – 12.7.2023

Fletcher joined The Don Callis Family on the October 27th episode of AEW Rampage. He refuses to follow the Code of Honor and stands over Gravity dominantly after throwing him to the mat out of a lock-up. Gravity back handspring armdrags Fletcher to the floor and wipes him out with a tope con hilo. He almost pins Fletcher with a Mouse Trap, but Fletcher then blocks a crossbody and swings him out into a Side Effect. Fletcher smothers him against the ropes with a forearm smash. Gravity is able to counter a powerbomb with a huracanrana for two, and then slams Fletcher into a standing moonsault for another two count. Fletcher hops over a corner attack from Gravity and scoops him up into a Michinoku Driver for two. After a heel kick to the chin, he hoists Gravity up into a tombstone position from a hammerlock. Gravity victory rolls Fletcher at the last moment to escape. Fletcher superkicks Gravity right away and pulls him right back up, pulling off the Grimstone (spinning tombstone piledriver) for the pin at 5:28. These two paired against each other was great fun. Fletcher’s size along with his explosiveness made everything he did to Gravity look so impactful, and also made Gravity’s reversals all the more impressive. It’s probably the most impressed with Gravity I’ve been. Seeing Fletcher maul him in the last few moments most certainly made him feel like a favorite to win the TV Title. I thoroughly enjoyed this. ***

2023 Survival of the Fittest Opening Round Match
Bryan Keith vs. Jack Cartwheel
Final Battle 2023 Zero Hour – Garland, TX – 12.15.2023

So we actually have one of the SOTF competitors who will be true to the original concept, qualifying for the final on the same night of the match. No surprise that Cartwheel, well, cartwheeled a whole bunch to throw Keith off of his game. When he tries a headscissors from the mat, Keith dropkicks Cartwheel while he is upside down. Cartwheel uses a cartwheel to pull off an enzuigiri, only for Keith to shut him down swiftly with a big boot. Impressively, Cartwheel uses a cartwheel dragonscrew leg whip to take down Keith. He also backflips under a clothesline and drops Keith with a neckbreaker. Keith sends Cartwheel to the apron. Cartwheel uses the ropes for a delayed headstand leg sweep, and then headstands in using the ropes into a twisting elbow drop for two. Cartwheel also pulls off a cartwheel powerslam for two. Keith grabs Cartwheel’s leg so he cannot ascend the ropes. Cartwheel fights him off, but that time bought by Keith gives him the ability to get back to his feet. He charges at Cartwheel, who cuts him off with a cartwheel Death Valley Driver and then knocks him to the floor with back handspring heels. Back in the ring, Keith surprises Cartwheel with a knockout knee to the face and then muscles him up into a sit-out Tiger Driver for the pin at 7:14. Late to the game, but these guys stole the qualifying round. Cartwheel won over the crowd, which is impressive considering Keith is the hometown guy. It was an amazing battle of power versus speed, and a match that I think should earn them both regular spots on the ROH roster. ***½

ROH World Television Championship – 2023 Survival of the Fittest Tournament Finals
Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Bryan Keith
Final Battle 2023 – Garland, TX – 12.15.2023

The winner of this match will win the vacant ROH World Television Championship. The Boys are in Castle’s corner and Alex Abrahantes is in Komander’s corner. Regardless of who is in the ring, Castle continues to find himself side stepped and thrown to the outside. Fletcher pummels Keith after surprising him with a heavy slam. It is also Fletcher who Castle finally breaks his bad luck against, throwing Fletcher to the floor instead of heading out there himself. Moriarty however kicks him to the floor and takes him and Keith out with a suicide dive. Johnson and Komander follow with their own dives. Back in the ring, Moriarty snaps Johnson’s fingers, just like he did with Tracy Williams in his qualifying match. The Thang leads to Moriarty submitting Johnston to the Border City Stretch at 8:47. The Boys smack Castle’s thighs to get him loosened up. As Castle is running roughshod on everyone, Johnny TV wipes out a Boy with a superkick. Castle is distracted by TV, who has been at odds with him in ROH of late. TV throws the other Boy into the ring, and that distraction leads to Moriarty pinning Castle with The Thang at 11:20. The crowd is big mad.

Komander and Keith take out Fletcher and Moriarty. Komander has Keith ready for his rope walk shooting star press after taking him out with a tornado DDT. Fletcher shoves Komander down and ascends the ropes, only for Keith to cut him off with a headbutt to the chin. Moriarty sneaks in from behind and Komander underneath him, ending with everyone being powerbombed by Komander. Komander scores a couple of nearfalls on Moriarty. Moriarty boots Komander and dropkicks him low. Keith gets one with an Ushigoroshi on Moriarty. Keith knocks out Moriarty with a knee to the face, and then hoists him up into the sit-out Tiger Driver for the pin at 15:38. Fletcher immediately crucifix pins Keith but only gets a two count. Keith Saito suplexes him into a running knee. Fletcher weaves out of the Tiger Driver and muscles Keith up into the Grimstone for the pin at 16:53, leaving Komander and Fletcher as the final two. Fletcher wants the Grimstone on Komander as well. Komander slips out, kicks out Fletcher’s leg, and springboards off the ropes into a reverse spike Frankensteiner. Fletcher catches Komander’s slingshot Frankensteiner attempt, and successfully gives him a tombstone piledriver on the ring apron. Komander makes it in the ring just before the twenty count, with Fletcher immediately giving him a brainbuster. Komander finds the strength to get his shoulder up from the pin and Fletcher places him on the top turnbuckle. Komander swings out Fletcher’s legs and gives him a springboard Destroyer for two. Komander slingshots Fletcher’s throat into the middle rope and lands a rope-walk 630 splash onto the ring apron! A 450 splash in the ring insanely only gets Komander a two count.Komander perches himself on the middle rope again. Fletcher kicks out his right knee and gives him a top rope brainbuster. Once more, Komander gets his shoulder up and the crowd goes wild. Fletcher cracks him in the back of the head with a heel kick and muscles him up into the Grimstone for the pin at 25:55. They did a really good job of giving everyone something significant in this match except for Johnson, but someone’s gotta be first out. I loved that Moriarty got two significant eliminations, and the crowd when it got to the final two combatants were unreal. I thought they went overboard with the nearfalls, but that crowd didn’t, and it definitely raised the excitement. Even if my dream of the TV belt becoming a Lucha belt didn’t come true, Fletcher is excellent and should be a good champion. ****

A very good “tournament” this year, and I hope this continues to be an annual tradition as long as ROH is around.