Cody Rhodes To Have Final ROH Match Against Jay Lethal At ‘Final Battle’
Each year professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor ends the year with its Final Battle PPV event. This year, the company has announced the main event as Cody Rhodes versus Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. That promises to be a great match and one that would be newsworthy on its own, but Cody has taken the hype to another level by announcing that it’ll be his final match in ROH.
Cody had made it clear that when his dates were finished, he would be leaving ROH and not re-signing with the promotion. Now he’s announced that he plans to leave with the title strapped around his waist.
Rhodes took to Twitter and said, “Jay was the first match I had in ROH two years ago. He will be my last. And I will take the World Championship into free agency,” per WrestleZone.
Jay was the first match I had in ROH two years ago. He will be my last. And I will take the World Championship into free agency. ? https://t.co/6qlrg6d8vZ
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) November 15, 2018
The odd thing about this move is that it telegraphs the result of the main event — it’s unlikely that ROH would actually put the title on a performer who is leaving the promotion. Of course, in the world of pro wrestling, anything is possible, and ROH might have Rhodes win the match just as a way to swerve the fans by doing the unexpected.
One of the biggest stories in the professional wrestling world is what The Elite/Bullet Club will do once their current contracts expire. The members in question include Matt and Nick Jackson — The Young Bucks, Adam “Hangman” Paige, Kenny Omega, and of course, Cody Rhodes. Cody locking in that he’s done with ROH after Final Battle will only add more fuel to the rumors that he, and the rest of the group, could make a move to WWE.
Recently, the group claimed that they would stick together once their contracts expired. In an interview with PWInsider, Cody said the following.
“One thing that’s special about this, and I have to be rather cagey in answering, one thing that is special about this group is we have verbally committed to each other and I don’t know that that’s ever been done in the history of professional wrestling, where I have verbally committed to the Bucks, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page…. The next step we take, we’re going to take it together and we’re going to take it as a family.”
We’ll have to wait and see what happens at Final Battle, but one thing’s for sure: the wrestling world will be watching closely to see where The Elite ends up in 2019.
