Athena vs. Persephone

[7.0] "Athena and Persephone are like two Ferraris hidden in a run-down garage, but if anyone deserved to end Athena's interminable, tedious, and boring reign, it was the Mexican wrestler. I don't usually deduct points for the winner's decision, but in the long run, it was a mistake, because both remain stuck in ROH despite having the credibility to achieve great things. The match wasn't bad; perhaps it needed a more enthusiastic crowd, more fire and intensity. It was a constant exchange of counterattacks, but the pace of the match was nothing special. There were good moments because the backstory and quality are there, but nothing extraordinary enough to justify such a high score."

[8.0] "A truly impressive bout. While the match started a little slow due to a tired crowd following the great Bandido match, it got significantly better as it went on, eventually winning the crowd over. Athena continues her incredible, three-year reign as champion, a run that has produced a multitude of great matches. Her opponent, Persephone, was very impressive, but Athena ultimately remains the forever champion."

[9.0] "One of the better matches of Athena & the best I've seen from Persephone. It didn't have a warranted storyline, but their sheer brilliance in following the core pattern of a soundly contested match was amazing, especially the latter, who proved me wrong. 4.5 out of 5 stars!"

[8.0] "Another great match from the ROH women's division. Persephone really stepped up here and continues tonight's trend of ROH Mainstays standing toe to toe with more established performers. Persephone didn't really have me believing she would be the one to end Athena's reign but she put up a very believable fight. Athena is as great as always and continues to be one of the best women's wrestlers in North America. Doesn't seem an end in sight for this title reign because I don't know who's gonna step to Athena level at the moment"

[8.0] "A match that didn't feel that long, on one side it flee by but on the other little memorable happened. Anyways there was enough solid action for an enjoyable bout. ***3/4"

[10.0] "Oooh, is this my favorite Athena match ever? Not sure I can 100% say that, as there are a lot of good contenders, but oh boyyyyy this was a great match. Athena I hope everyone knows well, now over 1, 000 days reigning as ROH Women's Champion, the cornerstone of the brand, arguably the only reason to pay any attention to ROH these days (but don't quote me on that). Even so deep in her reign she is still finding fresh opponents, as she now battles Persephone of CMLL, a strong 24 year old talent with a whole lot of upside which she was clearly motivated to show off here. 27 minutes is a long match to be sure but I thought they filled the time very well, got some phenomenal nearfalls out of it that convinced me there was at least a slim chance of a title change, which is impressive since I entered thinking it was a foregone conclusion. Obviously I was right but still, if you get people to bite on your nearfalls in that scenario you are doing something extremely right. I also think you have to acknowledge the fact that Athena has been booked strong for so long and the fans are still largely behind her no matter what she does, no sign of fatigue. That's really quite amazing, but it's a testament to just how good she is, not just in the execution of her moves but her fantastic way of being present in every moment, engaging the match, engaging the crowd, she's just always on and it's top tier. Persephone showed a whole lot as well, I think she could have a really bright future, together they took this one all the way down the line together. #28 on my running MOTY list, great stuff."

[7.0] "Persephone really has to become a mainstay on the AEW/ROH roster; what a performer she is, with a diverse capacity to impress in every single outing. This took a little while to get going, but these two powerhouses put on a masterclass only let down in part by the inevitability of the result. Perhaps this would have benefitted further from earlier placement on the card, or just a shorter card in general. Filling this out retrospectively, so excuse the lack of detail."

[9.0] "What is great about an Athena match is the pacing. Both woman looked amazing in the ring. Some of the sequences at the end were some things I've never seen before. I don't get wowed much anymore by repetitive sequences we've seen a million times before so when I see something new it shows the wrestlers care about the match. So much for me these days is wrestlers who have passion for what they do. That's how a wrestler looks good even in losing. I'd like to see Persephone in AEW shows. Move some of the women who need more time into ROH. There's a few of them."

[7.0] "This was very hard hitting and mostly well executed, but it went a good ten minutes longer than it needed to in front of a largely silent crowd and maniacal commentary ***1/2"

[6.0] "A mostly fundamentally good pro wrestling match with some tremendous physicality and aggression, but unfortunately restrained by a horrendous crowd and really long runtime. The crowd is reacting like they're watching golf or something, it's so difficult to get any drama out of the match in this setting. The chemistry between these two definitely has some real hiccups especially early on, but it's best when they're just clobbering each other, which is great stuff. I want to say I end up more positive than negative on this one because I think both of these ladies went for it and did some great stuff, but the length of the crowd and the pathetic amount of crowd heat are so difficult to overcome."

[7.0] "This was a good main event. The crowd were a little quiet for this but i still think the work done here was pretty great regardless. Good back selling from Athena and some cool stuff from Persephone too. Predictable result but these two still did a great job at keeping me engaged throughout the entirety of the match and there were at least a couple of near falls towards the end that i bit on. This is hurt by the lack of crowd investment but i still enjoyed this one a lot overall. ***3/4"

[7.0] "Athena as forever Champion is great. Great story of strength and determination. Athena clamoring on this title. Very strong back and forth towards the finish, could really have gone either way."

[9.0] "Maybe the most I've been impressed with a less established wrestler on american programming. Persephone was working SO hard, she did so much and was so good! Strong, can fly well, very physical and incredibly emotive and passionate. I loved her kicks to the gut especially. I think Persephone can go really, really far if she puts a little more thought into her matches, her branding and gets the crowd with some chanting gimmick. Athena, obviously, is one of if not the best woman wrestler in the world. She reminds me a lot of AJ Styles with her hybrid style, mad athleticism, understanding of the game and match sctructure. These two worked a five star banger in front of a crowd that really wasn't up to snuff. Either cause they don't know Persephone, or becuause they're confused as to how to treat Athena. She is a heel, but she's so good and doesn't antagonize the faithful ROH goers. Overall, very impressive. With a different crowd I'm sure this would have been a womens MOTY contender (at least for America). 4.5*"

[10.0] "Athena is truly amazing & she made Persephone look like a million bucks. I know ppl are complaining about the length but honestly I love my matches to go long like this & the longer it went the more I felt Athena could've possibly be dropping her title, Athena in her matches has this ability to make you believe her opponent can win. What a match this was"

[5.0] "Wow this was long man, it felt every bit of the twenty seven minutes they gave em. I don't wanna say they didn't do anything, but they didn't have enough crazy spots or cool story telling to warrant this match going so damn long. I don't think I've seen one Athena match in this AEW run where she hasn't botched, which would be fine if these botches looked dangerous or reckless, but nah they just looked stupid. That opening where she takes the tijeras on her knees, what was that all about? She can can bump like a G-Mod ragdoll whenever she wants, so it was very weird. Persephone looked good again, she hit the 10/31 on the announce table, that was something different. Aside from Athena's botching and Diamante constantly interfering, the rest of the match was okay, it was nothing special but it wasn't offensive.They need to stop putting Athena in the main event. Two and a Half Stars out of Five"

[10.0] "Definitely a MOTYC. Most impressed ive been with Persephone in the 4 times ive seen her. She looked incredible here. I think Athena genuinely does not get enough respect for how fucking incredible of a wrestler she is. These two cooked tremendously."

[7.0] "As great as Athena continues to be, her title reign is becoming self parody. It's a problem with modern title reigns lasting longer than one year. They're on tv every week so it feels like it's longer. I'm sure it's probably out of necessity since they have very few women signed to contracts performing on ROH but they have to come up with someone. This match was good but a lot of my enjoyment was hampered by the way too long title reign."

[6.0] "A match that fell wildly below expectations for me. A distinct lack of chemistry combined with a crowd that lacked any remote sense of urgency made for a weak viewing experience that lowered the quality of this main event despite the quality of both wrestlers."

[7.0] "Athena has a bad tendency of letting her matches go about 7-10 minutes too long without having much to show to justify it or enhance the match. Some sloppy looking stuff in this match, but overall it was still an enjoyable match."

[9.0] "The only knock on this match is that it went a tad big long but other than that this was incredibly to watch. The theme of this show really seemed to be the veterans making sure the young stars looked great & I really enjoyed it. Persephone is the next big thing & with how well she was working Athena's back & how well Athena was selling I thought we could've had a new champion. Great match"

[9.0] "Excellent match. Started out a little slow with a tired crowd, but as the match went on the better it got and they got the crowd into it which is impressive as they were following a great Bandido match. Athena continues her three year reign as champion which has produced a lot of great matches and Persephone was very impressive. Hope to see a lot more of her in AEW/ROH in the future."

[10.0] "We all kind of knew that this would be another +1 for Athena and yet the two wrestlers had an amazing bout. It always amazes me the level that the female division in ROH can reach. In my humble opinion, the best female roster in the US. Now the question is...what's next for Athena?"

[10.0] "Standout performance by Perseophone. She did amazing. Athena was great as always. There were so many crazy nearfalls and reversals in this match, and the selling and psychology was great. This match started a bit slow but really turned into something that was just incredibly good by the end of it. Persephone really proved that she belongs in the main event scene despite her young age and Athena continues to prove that she's one of the most versatile women in pro wrestling today. This was terrific."

[8.0] "This was an excellent match.The crowd wasnt mainly invested at the beginning which kinda took away the excitement for me.but as the match proceeded the girls got into next level mode and the fight was intense and physical. As this will end up being Persephone best match along with the mone match. Athena is always brilliant but it went a bit long for me.But after 15minutes they weren't all out.A zenth of brilliance and masterclass wrestling"

[9.0] "Lord have mercy that German off the top rope was insane & an epic finishing sequence. Things started slow & the crowd might have been tired but the final parts of the match was beyond epic. Athena has been champ for 3 Final Battles like she literally is the forever champion"

[10.0] "To be champion for this long and still have a large vocal chunk of the audience fully behind you is a testament to how fantastic Athena is. Add in an insane opponent like Persephone having her breakout match in ROH, and put it in the main event of Final Battle? This was stellar stuff."