Athena vs. Mercedes Martinez

[5.0] "The crowd being so behind Athena helped this, otherwise it was just fine really, a pretty average match considering it started one of the longest title reigns in modern history. Martinez did look a bit uninterested at points, that might be an uncharitable reading of the situation but you could kind of tell she was losing from the get. The action was never bad aside from a couple notable botches, but it was not particularly good either. Athena got the win with the O-Face (terrible name for a move), not one to go back to."

[7.0] "Pretty decent for a majority of it, I did think the finish sucked though and it immediately bumped it down a quarter. Its a bit too 50/50 for most of the match, and it does take a minute to uncover any story here. I found the match to revolve around Mercedes not having many advantages besides veteran knowledge, and she tries to use that as much as she can to her advantage here. Athena is smart, but also just cheats around and thats how she becomes the victor here. Its a decent story, but it also didn't feel very prevalent. However, I thought a majority of the action here was great. Kinda brutal; the powerbomb and the brainbuster were real cool. I also think that while the storytelling was meh, these women both have real good instincts in the ring. Apart from the end, it looked like a real competition. Mercedes blocking the powerbomb with her legs and Athena's way of getting put into the surfboard stretch were highlights. Its brought down for me with wacky storytelling and a crappy end. [***.25]"

[4.0] "Same as the previous match of this card, but mainly due to Martinez. Its not pretty satisfying to watch her matches, it seemed boring, emotionless, even looked that she didnt care at all about the match. Athena tried to put some effort and energy trought the battle, but it wasnt enough to even get a satisfactory match [**]"

[7.0] "A good, hard-hitting match here. This wasnt quite as good as I think it could have been, but it was still fun and entertaining for what it was. Im very glad Athena got the title as well, as Ive been a big fan of her since her time in NXT as Ember Moon."

[5.0] "I'm getting to the point where I find it painful to watch Martinez try to wrestle. In addition to this, it gives off absolutely nothing. The public is fully behind the local Heel Athena, fortunately she took the trouble to release something good even if it wasn't enough. (2*1/2)"

"I don't think this was the best Mercedes Vs Athena match. The questionable booking of Both Mercedes & Athena, TK's Decision to book the show in Texas when Athena just Turned heel. I would've personally waited on Mercedes Vs Athena until it was someplace outside of Texas to really make Athena as a heel make sense. I wished these 2 can do a rematch of the title with proper build but again it's TK..."

[7.0] "Athena and Martinez worked their asses off to put on quite a pretty relevant fight. Maybe a bit clumsy on the edges, but we had Athena being the most aggressive possible while Martinez built the right comeback. Athena is really good at working a crowd despite being the heel, or at lest a tweener. Martinez's loss was quite predictable, but she did everything to put her opponent over."

[7.0] "this feud suffered from a weak build but it was still a pretty good match. it was hard hitting and these women went strike for strike. it was the right call having Athena win the championship here. she's red hot and this heel run is some of the best work of her career."

[6.0] "The high points and the excellent crowd work as the fans went clearly for Athena balanced out some of the the awkwardness of the ending."

[6.0] "This match suffered from a poor build but more than delivered. They worked really hard and this was the best I've seen Mercedes Martinez look. Athena is a good fit for ROH women's champion."

[7.0] "The difference b/w Athena & Mercedes in the presentation among the mainstream peers is night and day. So, taking the title off Mercedes was the right move and Athena being the person to do that made the change even better. Her recent shift in attitude combined with added intensity to her skillset looks so promising than before. I'm confident to say that the women's division of ROH will take off in the right direction with Athena as the leader. 3.25 out of 5 stars!"

[8.0] "Great guide on how womens matches in ROH & AEW should be moving forward. Heavy strikes, intensity turnt up and a solid story behind them. Athena has been amazing since her heel turn."

[6.0] "I didn't get a picture of the match and it was as if my expectations became a problem for feeling the importance of this match. Athena took advantage of dirty tricks and won after Eclipse and got a big trophy and she's back in the game! Mercedes Martinez was not remembered at all and her defeat became natural."

[8.0] "I thought this was pretty great. I think Mercedes slowing things a bit down actually benefitted Athena. Athena has a great thing going and was able to work around it with agression that then got a bit diluted as they worked the big spots but these were pretty good. Despite being the theoretical heel, this was Athena's home state and crowd was behind her so Mercedes having a good control segment after Athena missed the running dropkick outside the ring (that she hit against Jody Threat) was really good. Athena's tantrum after the near fall was also very good. Mercedes seemed to be a bit out of it for a moment but then she took the dropkick into the exposed buckle great for a great finish. Didn't even mention a fantastic build up to an Athena powerbomb that started with Mercedes attempting the spides German."

[7.0] "I think it's a testament to how good Athena is that not only did she work around how the crowd liked her more than Mercedes despite working heel to keep them invested AND drew their attention away from the thrown turnbuckle pad that got taken from a fan for the finishing stretch that got over. Some great physicality while playing this well-worked tweener character that played to the crowd without being the "good guy" in the match. Martinez is a charisma vacuum despite her talent, at least in AEW/ROH, but her chemistry with Athena was apparent and she let the obviously more over challenger shine and put her over wonderfully. Hopefully this title gets the momentum that Rok-C & Deonna gave it back again after a very dull reign from Martinez. ***1/4+"

[8.0] "Great hard-hitting match here - I think Athena was trying to make a point there, and Mercedes could match her strike for strike. The right result as well."

[7.0] "Pretty good. Some of Athena's offence in the first half was a bit off (the chop to the leg thing or whatever that was, and her meteora doesn't connect at all) but overall I like her new heel style. Mercedes had a good showing and it was nice to see her in a competitive match again. I thought it was weird that the ref did absolutely nothing about the exposed turnbuckle at the end, though... It's not like he was distracted, he saw the whole thing and just ignored it? Weird."

[5.0] "Athena's been on a roll, and Martinez has been on whatever the opposite of that is (even before her injury) so this was a bit heatless and a formality."

[7.0] "A satisfying match before a too quiet crowd. Athena dominating opponents pays off versus a tougher Martinez. Athena winning was the right decision."

[6.0] "I'm glad the women got some decent time. Match was good, happy with the result. Both women performed well."

[8.0] "Hard fought match with tons of good spots. Athena was a babyface to her hometown crowd, so it took some time to find the right psychology to the match but they found it and it made for a very good match."

[6.0] "And finally Athena gets something, it's a good thing she won because Mercedes Martinez was having a pretty bad reign."

[7.0] "I thought this was actually pretty good and it had the right result. Athena is doing some of the best work of her career. ***1/2"

[6.0] "The face/heel dynamic was confused here, but they eventually figured it out. Kinda. Athena looked good in this match. Strikes from both parties looked great. One of the weaker points of most women's matches are bad looking strikes and these two made them look great. A great sequence on the turnbuckle as well, which seems to be a favorite of Mercedes."

[9.0] "Amazing match where two veterans slug the hell out of each other. There's a real struggle in everything both women do here, and it builds to a phenomenal finish. Don't get the complaints about the face/heel dichotomy, as until the closing moments, it didn't matter about good or bad, just about the rabid desire to win over an opponent who's as good as you."

[4.0] "Mercedes Martinez continues to underwhelm in her AEW/ROH run, this just felt heatless. Athena was supposed to be the heel but it was her hometown and she was cheered throughout the match, she hit a gross shotgun dropkick into the corner, and won the title with the O-Face, hopefully she brings some good performances for this division."

[8.0] "Really good brawl with the heel Athena super over in her home area, and unlike ROH of old, they actually struck while the iron was hot and put the Women's Title on her. Mercedes Martinez was so good in putting Athena over in defeat. When people say AEW Dark and Elevation are useless, show them Athena's run the last few months building to this, and they'll think again."