By Kevin Eck

When Bully Ray ambushed “The Maneater” Maria Manic and choke-slammed her through a table at Final Battle Fallout in Philadelphia on Dec. 15, it seemed totally unprovoked. As far as anyone knew, their paths had never crossed prior to that.

As it turns out, Bully’s seemingly random act of violence wasn’t random at all.

Manic was about to powerbomb The Allure’s Angelina Love through a table before Bully showed up. The story I’m hearing is that Bully took offense to Manic attempting to put someone through a table in “his house” -- the 2300 Arena, formerly known as the ECW Arena. I’ve been told by a source close to Bully that he will be speaking publicly about the incident soon.

For nearly six months, “The Maneater” Maria Manic destroyed everyone in her path, but Sunday night at #FinalBattleFallout, she was the one left lying as @bullyray5150 ambushed & chokeslammed her through a table.



Read more: https://t.co/WulEod6nHx pic.twitter.com/l1kmppjg61 — ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 18, 2019

Typical Bully Ray. Sure, he’s made his name putting people through tables and he has a lot of history in that building, but this was between Manic and The Allure and had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Manic doesn’t seem like the type to not seek retribution. She’s scheduled to appear at Saturday Night at Center Stage in Atlanta on Jan. 11 and Honor Reigns Supreme in Concord, N.C., on Jan 12. I believe Bully also is scheduled for those events. Just sayin’.

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Former ROH World Champion Matt Taven underwent successful surgery on his right ankle this week. He suffered the injury at the hands of former best friend Vincent (with an assist from Bateman) at Final Battle in Baltimore on Dec. 13 when Vincent placed a wooden block between Taven’s feet and smashed his ankle with a chair.

There is no timetable for Taven’s return to the ring at this time.

Surgery was a success!!! Thank you for all messages, love, and support. This is only a speed bump on my journey to getting back the @ringofhonor World Title! @ Mass General West Medical Group https://t.co/h6hcxfLOX5 — Matt Taven (@MattTaven) December 19, 2019

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In case you missed this past weekend’s episode of “Ring of Honor Wrestling,” Taven’s former Kingdom teammate TK O’Ryan delivered a heartfelt message to the fans regarding his future in pro wrestling.

O’Ryan revealed that he suffered a head injury several months ago and isn’t sure if he will ever wrestle again. He said if he does return to the ring it will be in ROH and he’ll be “a man that everyone can be proud of.”

The Sassy Wild Horse has been put to pasture.



2014-2019#elamericano pic.twitter.com/tkcxMea7zK — Man With No Country (@WildHorseTKO) December 14, 2019

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Shane Taylor’s future in ROH is unclear following his loss of the ROH World Television Title to Dragon Lee at Final Battle. ROH officials are in negotiations with Shane Taylor Promotions to have him compete at upcoming ROH events.

In my opinion, Taylor far exceeded expectations in 2019 and had one of the best years of anyone in the company. I hope we haven’t seen the last of him in an ROH ring.

Lee, by the way, will make his first title defense in Atlanta against an opponent to be determined.

It’s also been announced that Lee’s brother, former ROH World Champion RUSH, will get his title rematch against new champion PCO in Atlanta.

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Former Shimmer Champion Nicole Savoy came to Women of Honor to prove herself, but things have already gotten personal. After Savoy scored an impressive win over former WOH World Champion Sumie Sakai at Final Battle Fallout in her debut, both she and Sakai were attacked by The Allure (Love and Mandy Leon).

Savoy is signed to compete in Atlanta and Concord.

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Also signed for Atlanta and Concord are Rey Horus and Andrew Everett.

Horus had a strong showing in defeat in his ROH debut against Flip Gordon at Final Battle Fallout. Everett, a semifinalist in the 2014 Top Prospect Tournament, last competed in ROH at Survival of the Fittest in November 2018.

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Former WCW star Crowbar made a positive impression on ROH officials with his performance against Eli Isom at Final Battle Fallout in a match taped for an upcoming episode of “Ring of Honor Wrestling.” The door is open for the eccentric veteran (and his equally eccentric entourage) to appear at more ROH shows in 2020.

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PJ Black probably regrets his boast to Silas Young that he could mentor anyone on the roster and have just as much success as Young is having with his protege, Josh Woods. Young called him on it and challenged Black to mentor Brian Johnson.

Young proposed a match between his student and Black’s student. Black agreed to it, but first he has to convince the surly Johnson to allow him to be his mentor.

Johnson is the one person who literally everyone in the locker room can’t stand. Yeah, good luck with that mentoring, P.J.

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During Final Battle weekend, ROH reaffirmed its commitment to being active in the communities where it appears. ROH stars visited Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore and Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia.

ROH talent also attended last Thursday night’s NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets at M&T Bank Stadium. Before the game, the ROH stars hung out with fans at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood’s Ravens TailGOAT party.



ROH Stars visited Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital in Baltimore and

Shriners Hospital For Children in Philly this weekend before #FinalBattle & #FinalBattleFallout! pic.twitter.com/Z1WhwX44uQ — ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 15, 2019

The Stars of ROH visit Children at John Hopkins Children's Center via Fox45: https://t.co/jAs8ronnOf pic.twitter.com/eoZBHh6k4B — ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 17, 2019

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ROH ended 2019 with a bang at Final Battle weekend, and 2020 undoubtedly is going to be a very exciting year for the company. We’ve already seen some new faces as of late, and I’m hearing that there will be more in the coming months.

In fact, you never know who might show up in Ring of Honorhausen in 2020.

Kevin Eck is a veteran pro wrestling journalist who has worked for The Baltimore Sun, WWE and WCW before joining ROHWrestling.com.