Tony Khan Addresses FTR Not Being Booked For ROH Final Battle
This coming weekend, ROH will be hosting its third pay-per-view under the stewardship of Tony Khan. As of this writing, ROH Final Battle will feature four of the company's championships being defended, but one key belt is absent. ROH Tag Team Champions FTR, who first won the belts from ROH Hall of Famers The Briscoes at Supercard of Honor, are currently without a spot on the card, with an AEW World Tag Team Championship match planned for tonight's "AEW Dynamite" against The Acclaimed instead.
Khan addressed the situation during the ROH Final Battle media call, explaining why the tag team isn't booked for the card, stating that he'd "like to utilize" FTR more in the future. Khan also stated that FTR want to be on TV and wrestling every night, but unfortunate circumstances out of their control changed their trajectory for the year. "I have a great appreciation for FTR, a lot of the card shuffling that has happened this year through zero faults of their own, they had been involved in a number of matches and stories that got thrown off because of people at varies times where there had been people not around," Khan said.
"In particular, there's been injuries that have stopped that, at the Forum when CM Punk broke his foot, it really affected months of stories with FTR and they weren't the same of what they were going to be and it's hard to replace that part of it. I think a lot of things more than one time this year have changed for them and they've rolled with the punches." Khan also revealed that his mom suffered two strokes this year and had an operation to remove a spot on her heart, detailing that FTR was "really supportive" during his "really hard year." The AEW owner also praised FTR for what they've done in 2022, calling it "pretty remarkable" given all the belts they've held.