Tony Schiavone talks ROH Final Battle.
On Friday, December 15, Ring Of Honor held their final pay-per-view event of 2023, Final Battle. The event featured big stars in action like Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Athena, Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta.
The AAA Mega Championship bout between El Hijo Del Vikingo and Black Taurus kicked off the event with a bang, as that match was the best bout of the night according to many fans.
On the latest episode of What Happened When, Tony Schiavone recalled thinking that one of the competitors in the match was going to die due to the simple fact that they were putting their bodies in the line in high octane action. Schiavone also noted that he thought it was a five star match.
“It’s one of those matches, and very rarely do I say this to myself, but it was one of those matches where about three-quarters of the way through it, I’m thinking, ‘One of these kids are gonna die tonight.’ Because they just put their bodies on the line. Then I’m backstage, and Vikingo comes back, and he’s hurting, man. He is really hurting, and he sits there, and the doctors attend to him. Then he takes a few breaths, he says, ‘I’m okay,’ and he walks away. I’m thinking, geez, it’s a freaking miracle. It was just amazing. I had seen Black Taurus at the Ric Flair Final Match. That’s the first time I had seen him. Then of course I saw him backstage, and really got to meet him, say hello to him. But for a guy his size, he can do some amazing things. That was really, to me, a five-star match. It really was."
Schiavone also highlighted other matches on the card before criticizing the notion that Ring Of Honor is full of throwaway matches.
“I really think, I think it’s a shame because a lot of people see Ring of Honor as like, ‘Well, they’re just on streaming, and it’s just throwaway matches.’ I get it, but the last two times, we’ve really delivered on pay-per-views on Ring of Honor."
Elsewhere in the podcast, Schiavone detailed the process behind his debut for ROH. Fans can learn more here.
If you missed anything from the December 20 episode of the show, click here to check out Fightful's recap of the show.
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