Honor Roll - Ring of Honor recap for December 19, 2024

"Big Shotty" Lee Johnson beats Bishop Kaun with an inside cradle. After the match, Toa Liona refuses to let Bishop Kaun shake hands with Lee Johnson. "The Judge" EJ Nduka sees this and confronts Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun has to play peacemaker.

Backstage, Alicia Atout interviews "Taiga Style" Lee Moriarty. Moriarty, who has issued an open challenge, says he is ready for whoever issues his open challenge and that he has proven he is levels above all his opponents, including Matt Taven. He says he gets better, stronger and more confident the more he gets in the ring, and that he wants the best competition and nothing less at Final Battle so he can cement himself as the best Pure Champion of all time.

Backstage, Alicia Atout interviews "Legit" Leyla Hirsch and Red Velvet. Leyla says she had Red Velvet beat last week and that she will beat him at Final Battle, and this time, nobody will be saving her. Red Velvet ssays she does not need saving, and tells Leyla to prove she had her beat. Leyla says she did, and that the ROH Women's World Television Championship will be hers.

Queen Aminata beats Lady Frost by submission.

We see footage of The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) at the Nightmare Factory. The Righteous follow "The Dustin into the training facility, and as Dustin is vacuuming the ring, Vincent attacks him, and Dutch joins in. Vincent calls this "euphoric," then calls Sammy Guevara and shows him a beaten-down, busted open Dustin. Dutch then states that "death walks in New York City" as he shows off the blood on the cowbell, then The Righteous leave.

Before the next match, Jacked Jameson says that when The Iron Savages (Boulder and Bronson) step on the scale, it goes over the limit, and that they will eat tonight's opponents alive.

Lance Archer and "The Machine" Brian Cage - now known as "Murder Machines" - beat The Iron Savages (Boulder and Bronson). Don Callis stomps Boulder after the match.

In backstage footage from earlier today, Ian Riccaboni and Jay Lethal wait for QT Marshall. As Ian plugs the match between the two men, Marshall shows up late. Lethal says that everything he has accomplished up until now has been because of Ring of Honor and that it feels amazing to be back. Marshall is ticked off that Lethal has refused his challenge for a match despite the wave that he is riding, but Lethal insists he wants to be back in the title picture. Lethal says that it was not personal between him and Marshall and that there was no nice way to say he does not want to wrestle Marshall, and that Marshall took everything personally before he could explain himself. Marshall chalks it up to Lethal being handed everything while he has had to scratch and claw to get where he is at, and credits a scar in his neck that Lethal caused as the start of his slow upwards trajectory. Lethal says Marshall is using his career as a crutch, but Marshall says it created a snowball effect that caused him to lose almost everything until he was finally recognized and appreciated as a trainer. Ian Riccaboni tries to play peacemaker as the argument gets more heated, and Marshall punches Lethal in the nose when Lethal stops Ian.

We look back on Billie Starkz vs. Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship from Final Battle 2023.

Serpentico beats Sidney Akeem.

Athena and Billie Starkz beat Blair Onyx and Missa Kate after Athena keeps using Billie Starkz as a weapon. After the match, Billie Starkz leaves with the ROH Women's World Championship. Starkz tears Athena's photo off the championship belt before smacking the belt around and throwing it into the ring steps. Athena rushes at Starkz, and this starts a brawl, and security tries to separate them only to get laid out. Athena gets the upper hand in the brawl, then throws Starkz into the barricade and punches out a security guard before smacking Starkz into the ring steps. After asking Starkz if this is what she wanted, she then slams Starkz's forehead into the Women's Championship.

We hear from "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho. He says that Matt Cardona gave him everything that he ever wanted and respects his courage, then says that Cardona forgot who he was dealing with. We then see Jericho attacking Cardona at a recent Game Changer Wrestling event, and tells Cardona never to turn his back on him. He says Cardona bit off more than he could chew by taking him on, and that he will chase Cardona down wherever he goes. He then says that Cardona's quest will be over at Final Battle, and that it is time for him to reclaim his crown.

We hear from "Taiga Style" Lee Moriarty, who brags about being a dominant champion ever since he won the ROH Pure Championship, and talks about how he beat one of the most decorated stars in ROH history in Matt Taven. He says that after defending against Taven, he is looking for an even bigger challenge, and is issuing an open challenge at Final Battle to prove he is on another level when it comes to pure wrestling.

Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake) and Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and "Taiga Style" Lee Moriarty) beat The Dark Order (Evil Uno and Alex Reynolds) and Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) in an eight-man tag match after Moriarty uses the bottom rope for leverage in a way that the referee cannot see as he pins Mike Bennett.