Adam Cole made history tonight here in Las Vegas when he defeated Jay Lethal during the Death Before Dishonor XIV to become the new ROH World Champion.
With this win, Cole has become the third person to hold the coveted championship twice during their wrestling career. Before him, Austin Aries and Jay Brisco are the only two people who have held the title twice.
The match between the two wrestlers was a long adventure and both men gave everything they had before the challenger Adam Cole finally came out on the top and ended champion Jay Lethal’s 427-day reign.
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The bout started with Cole reminding Lethal about their last confrontation by introducing the braids he shaved off of Lethal's head during a recent episode of ROH TV.The champion Lethal replied to this by delivering a series of haymakers followed by two knife edge chops while Cole delivered a knife edge chop of his own.
The turning point of the match was when Lethal busted himself open when he tried to deliver a flying elbow drop but went crashing through the table instead as Cole ducked out of the way. The Nevada crowd sensed that Lethal's reign as the champion was in serious jeopardy this time and they became more and more invested in the match after this as the action continued.
The match almost ended when Cole delivered a low-blow to Lethal following an STO by the champ and covered him but the champion somehow managed to escape the 3 count by putting his foot on the bottom rope. The bout finally reached its climax when Cole turned a Fireman’s Carry from Lethal into his devastating 'Last Shot' neck breaker and pinned him to become the new Ring of Honor World Champion.
Although the new champ couldn't celebrate for long due the interference from his old tag-team partner, Kyle O’Reilly, who laid him out with a clothesline followed by a brainbuster.
O’Reilly then stood tall in the ring, holding the championship belt aloft to close the show indicating the start of a new feud between the two former friends over the top prize of the company.
It's notable here that ROH World Championship is one of the most reputed championships on the independent circuit.
Over the years since it's introduction, the title has been held by many future WWE talents such as CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Austin Aries.
