Athena vs. Gisele Shaw

[8.0] "Really good match with a main event pacing. Both women had some really good moves - a few sloppy moments though. I think the match went on a little too long, and Athena kind of just kicked out of Shaw's offence (aside from her finisher). That being said, this was great and the crowd were really into it."

[9.0] "Great match! I really enjoyed this one, Athena and Gisele are AWESOME and their chemistry was good here - i was expecting a better one ngl but still they mixed really well. I think it was a little too long because i felt a few times like they don't know what to do and some moments looked weird. They also had great moments, a lot actually - Athena was selling and striking like CRAZY and Shaw showed why she should win the title from Athena - she's really underrated wrestler. Overall it was great and i would recommend it. ****, 25"

[7.0] "I expected much more of this match, but somehow I didn't like it as much as I wanted. The first 10-15 minutes are excellent, but after that the encounter lost steem and I wasn't that invested on the final minutes. The match starts with intensity and hard hitting action by both women. I really loved the stiff strikes and moves. Some of the biggest spots happened here. For example, Shaw's chokeslam against the apron and the following offense against Athena; or how Athena recovered after violently smashing Shaw's head against the ring pot and then hitting a superkick. Then Shaw regained momentum, smashing Athena with her legs on a sort of pedigree move, into a canadian destroyer with the knees on the back for a cool nearfall. After that they exchange some hard strikes and moves such as a spinebuster, a liger bomb or Athena's canadian backbreaker into a powerbomb, an amazing move. Then they did a sequence of different submissions, such as a crossface into a knee bar, into a variation of the sharpshooter, but I didn't like it. This was the point where I became to dislike the match. After that ended, Athena was able to dodge Shaw's finisher and hit hers to win and retain the title. Probaly five minutes shorter would have helpt. Good hard hitting action and great nearfalls for a title match, but at some point I lost interest. Eventhough I disliked the final minutes, I want to see more of both girls. I enjoyed their offense and intensity a lot."

[7.0] "Another great reminder of how good Athena is as Ring of Honor World Champion, as well as providing a reintroduction to Gisele Shaw since leaving TNA, who always works best fighting from underneath, giving her best performance since facing the likes of Jamie Hayter in RevPro and Jordynne Grace in Impact. They were given a ton of time to show a new side to both of their work, with both women adopting a more technical approach compared to their usual style. Athena dominated early on, but both traded various moves in a game of one-upmanship with Shaw continuously proving that anything Athena can do, so can Gisele. Shaw began to mount a legit comeback after a Cradle Shock for a two count that nearly got me, but Athena hit this disgusting looking straightjacket powerbomb that Shaw sold like hell, crumpling into a heap. Back to groundwork, with Athena getting Shaw in a crossface, but Gisele rolled through and locked in a Sharpshooter to really light the Canadian crowd up, who were molten for a title change at this point. Athena finally got the O-Face with Shaw once again sold like death to cap off a great match. It took a minute for it to really get going, but there was enough big moments sprinkled in between the final submission stretch to make this a worthy defense and with plenty of time to really cook the crowd up, these ladies delivered just as promised. (***3/4)"

[6.0] "I'm really sad to give this a lower rating, but it went on way too long, didn't have enough of a structure, and there was some sloppiness all around. Shorten this by about ten minutes or so and you get a much better match. I admittedly give too much leeway in terms of sloppiness when it comes to my favourites, and I'm definitely doing that here still, but there was too much to ignore all together."

[0.0] "Davey Richards has a lot to answer for. This started off solidly enough, but they went 24-fucking-minutes and clearly didn't have any idea how lay out something coherent for such an ambitious haul. The final 10 minutes or so were awful - just random move after random move, with no sense of direction or strategy from either woman. There were botches, hesitations, deliberate no-sells alongside seemingly inadvertent ones, a couple of one-count kickouts from the heel and just a blur of spots that went nowhere right up to the finish. Highlight for me was Athena yelling "SHUT UP" at the deadly silent crowd DUD"

[8.0] "This was quite sloppy in my opinion but fuck me when these two were on they on. The hardest hitting North American women's match I've seen in ages. Both knocked lumps out of each other and Athena made Gisele Shaw look amazing. This is my first time seeing her and from what I'm gathering this is her at her best so I'm hoping this carries over into her future matches cause you can go places with this kind of intensity, she just needs to tighten up her psychology a bit. Athena as usual when she really wants to be is one of the best female wrestlers working today. Her heel work at the start of the match was amazing and pairing that with blood curdling heavy strikes just makes her look like such a bully between the ropes. I don't know why she decided to sell that apron power bomb like a fish out of water but hey besides that she was on point. How ROH's women's division booking isn't getting to AEW is beyond me cause this was fantastic"

[8.0] "This kinda felt apart a little bit by the end, but this still was pretty good, and the best Athena match since her match with Aminata"

[8.0] "Giving these two wrestlers time in such a context was bound to work wonders. Not everything was perfect, but this is surely the hardest-hitting women's match of the year outside Japan, they worked hard and both really delivered an excellent match. The best of Gisele's career."

[7.0] "Nobody has a better first gear than Athena. Her lack o of respect for her challenger as she boogies to the crowd chants. Credit to Gisele, she brought it tonight, can see why ashe was pacing herself on night 1."

[9.0] "Another great defense for Athena who continues to carry ROH. This was absolutely fire and a top notch performance for Shaw. Easily a match worth going out of your way to see."

[9.0] "This match was incredible. Athena was bumping like crazy and Shaw was pulling out some great moves. The last 5 or so minutes they went crazy. Athena has been on such a crazy run and this is another banger."