It wasn't shown on television, but one of the top moments from ROH Final Battle was captured on camera and posted on social media.
Following the Fight Without Honor between Shane Taylor and Kenny King, black wrestlers including the rest of Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, O'Shay Edwards), Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger, Ron Hunt, and Eli Isom hit the ring and embraced, celebrating what they had accomplished.
Appearing on the Jobbing Out podcast, Coleman reflected on the moment in the ring.
"It was unreal. It was Shane Taylor's idea and we were just going to do it. I believe Ring of Honor was the first, I'm not going to say the only, but the first that let so many of us African Americans do what we do and not put us all in the same boat as far as thinking we are all the same person. There are stereotypes in pro wrestling, it is what it is. A lot of times in pro wrestling, they feel like if you have a black person there, he's representing the whole race when there are so many of us that are part of this race that can play multiple parts, not just a rapper or a mad person. To have a place that will allow you to show -- there were nine or ten people in the ring and the other two were in the main event. For a platform to allow that many of us and have eleven totally different characters to prove ourselves is unity in itself. For us, each one of us knowing that this is what we do and live for. We're at a place where, when I grew up, one of my favorite wrestlers Rocky King because he looked like me, talked like me, walked like me. I went from having a favorite wrestler that I wish won a match one day to being in a ring full of winners on the highest pay-per-view, together in unity that looked just like the person that I wished won a match 30 years ago," he said.
Coleman continued by saying, "Me, as a kid, thinking I want to be a pro wrestler one day, I didn't have many people that looked like me to make me feel like I could do it. Now, look how someone at a younger age could turn on the TV now and see a Shane Taylor, Kenny King, Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, Moses, Kaun, O'Shay Edwards. There are a plethora of people. You can turn on WWE and see Cedric Alexander, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley and see these people at a championship level who look just like you. It gives you the feeling of, 'I can do that because I see somebody that looks like me doing it.' People think, 'Oh, nobody thinks like that.' Okay, well, you've been in a conversation where it's like, 'SHe's a girl, she'll never be President' and it was an okay answer. It was wrong, but looking at it logistically, it's like, 'We've never had a female President.' It's possible now. It matters to see somebody looking like you being in a place where you want to be because it's a stamp of approval that says 'you belong here.' We heard it when we were little but it was hard to believe because of what we had seen. Now, we truly live in a place where you can be whatever you want to be if you work hard at it and continue to try your best at it. It's legit now."
Coleman closed by making sure to clarify that their moment was a celebration of all they had accomplished in ROH as the promotion goes on hiatus.
"Some people are like, 'Why are you still talking about this in 2021?' We weren't doing it as a point of 'we've been held down, this is bad, you should help us. We're taking a knee because we've been disrespected.' This was a point of, we were able to prove who we are and we appreciate you and we're all together on this. It was a celebration, it wasn't a protest," he said.
Coleman called the action of ROH Final Battle, sharing the announce booth with Ian Riccaboni.
If you missed anything from ROH Final Battle, check out Fightful's full results on the show by clicking here.
You can find Fightful's watch along of classic ROH matches, every Tuesday at 6pm ET on the Distraction YouTube channel.
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