So let’s get this out of the way off the top – Final Battle was another strong outing for Ring of Honor’s pay-per-view-level shows under Tony Khan’s ownership. The brand has especially delivered in 2025 with three excellent shows, two of which included potential Match of the Year contenders. Final Battle didn’t have anything on that level, but still delivered from start to finish and we’ll speak more positively about it as this goes.
However.
Let’s get this out of the way because it needs to be said, and it is hardly the first time it has been said – Tony Khan needs to figure something out with Ring of Honor.
Ring of Honor has been under Tony Khan’s ownership since he purchased it in 2022 as the promotion appeared to be on death’s door after the COVID-19 pandemic. It had already been struggling before the pandemic after many of its top names had left for either WWE or to begin AEW. With no crowds, it made things even harder for the promotion and it became clearer as time went on that parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group was open to moving on from pro wrestling.
After announcing Ring of Honor would be scaling back costs heavily, Tony Khan swooped in to purchase the promotion. He has since put on three Ring of Honor pay-per-views every year, and expanded programming with a weekly show on the HonorClub subscription service in 2023.
There would be some stories, angles, and feuds involving some of the champions, but it would either be dragged out or rushed based on how much time there is between the start of the angle to when one of the pay-per-views is. However, names like Athena, Lee Moriarty, Bandido, and Billie Starkz are just a few who have been able to use Ring of Honor to build themselves, with Athena in particular carrying the brand as its Women’s World Champion since December 2022.
But don’t expect much more than that if you haven’t watched much of Ring of Honor in recent years, if at all.
The show largely became AEW’s new Dark and Dark Elevation with random matches and only a few storylines going, if you’re lucky. In turn, it makes the pay-per-view shows come across as little more than a big, one-off independent show.
Safe to say, something has to change with Ring of Honor.
Tony Khan has hinted at receiving offers from networks for a weekly Ring of Honor show, but says none of them have been the “right deal” for the brand. That shouldn’t be the lone criteria, though, to make up for what looks like a lack of effort. At least, that’s how it appears from the outside looking in.
Whether it is simply putting in more time and effort, handing the brand’s reins off to someone else, or whatever the solution is, it will simply continue to just “be there” in between the shows that draw out some degree of consistent effort.
Now, that out of the way, its now time to talk about Final Battle 2025.
Zero Hour
The evening began with the pre-show, Zero Hour, and featured four matches:
- The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd, Truth Magnum) vs. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari w/ Mark Sterling and Stori Denali)
- Zayda Steel vs. Leila Grey
- Ace Austin vs. Lee Johnson
- The Death Riders (Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta w/ Jon Moxley) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake, Zack Gibson)
As with most pre-shows under the AEW and Ring of Honor umbrella, it was a solid hour of in-ring action and previewing the biggest matches on the main card. Ace Austin vs. Lee Johnson and the Death Riders vs Grizzled Young Veterans, in particular, ended the pre-show on very strong in-ring notes. Austin and Johnson are two guys in their late-20s who always look like they are wrestling with purpose while Garcia and Yuta showcase their newfound, but surprisingly strong, tag team chemistry against one of the most criminally underrated teams in the world in the GYV.
Zayda Steel making her in-ring debut under AEW/RoH umbrella was also a big deal as she was one of the most-touted independent stars WWE signed under their new ID program in 2024. She decided not to re-up in 2025, and it was reported soon after, that there was interest in the 22-year-old sensation.
Rating – 3.5/5
As pre-shows go, it was a very good show to lead into Final Battle’s main card. The in-ring ramped up as it went on and delivered a notable headline with Steel’s debut. Beyond that, though it is what many longtime fans have come to expect.
With that, its time to start the main card. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman would also be joined by Jon Moxley, who decided to stay for the opening matches.
Ring of Honor Women’s Pure Championship Tournament Finals
Kicking off Final Battle 2025 was the tournament finals to crown the first Ring of Honor Women’s Pure Champion. The match saw Billie Starkz taking Deonna Purrazzo, with Billie defeating Olympia and Yuka Sakazaki to get to the finals while Deonna beat Trish Adora in the first round and went on to the finals after Queen Aminata had to forfeit due to injury.
Billie has long be viewed as a wunderkind, wrestling since she was 14-years-old and becoming a major standout on the independent scene before graduating high school. It carried over to a national stage as she’s continued to improve within AEW/RoH under Athena’s tutelage.
Deonna, meanwhile, hasn’t had the strongest run since debuting for AEW in January 2024. While she started off strong with a feud and pay-per-view title match against Toni Storm, it started to appear like something wasn’t quite clicking. She still delivered in the ring, with an especially physical series of matches against Thunder Rosa during the summer of 2024, she had been used much more sparingly over 2025. She only started appearing with any consistency against with the announcement of the Women’s Pure Title, and seems to have rediscovered her swagger thanks to it.
All this is to say that these two delivered as strong an opening as this style of match could deliver.
Deonna, in particular, has long been known as more of a technician in a similar vain to Bryan Danielson or Zack Sabre Jr.
She would ultimately win and be crowned the inaugural Pure Women’s Champion after catching Billie in her submission, the Venus de Milo, in the center of the ring and forced Billie to tap.
RATING – 4/5
It should come as no shock that two people as good in the ring as Deonna and Billie are that the opening match delivered. The Pure style, in particular, allows Deonna to shine due to her technical base, but Billie did not look out of place working within the ruleset and easily kept up with Deonna.
30-Minute Iron Man Match – Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness
Following the opener, fans were treated to what may have been one of the best showcases of technical and scientific professional wrestling all year. The Ring of Honor Pure Champion Lee Moriarty faced off with Nigel McGuinness in a 30-minute Iron Man match, serving as the rubber match after each got a submission win against the other.
And while the Pure Championship wasn’t on the line, the two wrestled like it was.
Nigel is widely regarded as one of the best of his generation alongside names like Bryan Danielson, AJ Style, and Samoa Joe, while Lee is viewed as one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, today. The match reflected this as the two spent most of the 30-minutes trading holds and putting on a technical showcase, though the two weren’t shy in trading strikes.
Shane Taylor, who was ringside, made his presence known at several times, as well, by either trying to distract Nigel or arguing with the referee.
Lee would maintain control for most of the match, with Lee up three falls to one over Nigel entering the last two minutes. Despite the limited time, Nigel would quickly score three pinfalls back-to-back-to-back to go up 4-3 with only seconds left. Shane Taylor would land a massive punch on Nigel while he was outside, though, and roll him back in the ring for Lee to pick up the tying pinfall in the last possible moments.
The match was declared a draw, though this wouldn’t sit well with Lee and he challenged Nigel to one more fall. Nigel returned to the ring and the match began under sudden death rules. The pair began trading roll-ups to score the final pin when Lee would finally catch Nigel in a bridging pin, only raising his shoulders off the mat at the last second to score the win.
Nigel, who came out with the version of the Pure title belt he won in 2005, presented the belt to Lee in a show of respect following the match.
RATING – 4.25/5
Fans of scientific/technical wrestling were treated to one of the best displays of it all year with two of the proverbial masters. Lee continues to be one of the best technical wrestlers in the world and Nigel, who retired from in-ring competition in 2011, has gotten to remind fans just how good he was and still is.
Ring of Honor Women’s World Television Championship – Red Velvet vs. Mercedes Mone
It then transitioned to the second title match of the night as Mercedes Mone defended the Ring of Honor Women’s Television Championship against the former champion, Red Velvet.
Mone originally beat Mina Shirakawa at AEW WrestleDream in October for the Interim Women’s TV title as Velvet was champion when she went out down with injury in July. Mone and Velvet would then face off on the November 17 Collision to unify the lineal and interim titles, with Mone winning ahead of her unsuccessful challenge for the AEW Women’s World Championship at Full Gear in November.
Locking up in the rematch, this match was as physical a match as these two could have had. Mone, in particular, appeared to take full advantage of being the bigger of the two, which she can rarely say, and muscled Velvet around at multiple points in the match.
Velvet wasn’t shy about hitting back hard, though, as she hit several hard punches and kicks to make some space when she needed to during the match.
On top of that, the match was at almost 100 miles-an-hour right from the bell. Velvet and Mone had no qualms about going fast and trading several big spots over the course of the match, including Velvet hitting a rana from the middle rope to reverse what appeared to be an attempted avalanche tombstone.
Velvet would finally pick up the win after reversing a Statement Maker into a pinfall to regain the TV title.
RATING – 4.25/5
The win makes Velvet only the third person in AEW or RoH to pin Mone since Mone joined AEW in March 2024. It is also the first title Mone has lost, bringing her total number of titles down from 13 to 12. She would be seen later in the night clutching her TBS title backstage when she was challenged to a TBS title match by Leila Grey at AEW Collision the following night, who would be unsuccessful in dethroning Mone.
Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship – LFI vs. Adam Priest/Tommy Billington
Next on the card was La Faccion Ingobernables, represented by Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos, taking on Adam Priest and ‘Dynamite Kid’ Tommy Billington for the RoH World Tag Team titles.
Heading into the match, the titles were once again held up after it was revealed Sammy’s partner and title co-holder Rush needed to get knee surgery. Rush revealed on social media he had been working with a knee injury for years but couldn’t put off surgery anymore. His brother and stablemate Dralistico was also confirmed to be out due to injury and needed surgery.
As a result, the tag titles were vacated and held up for the second time in 2025, with Sammy teaming with his other LFI stablemate Beast Mortos to take on the newer team of Adam Priest and Tommy Billington.
The pair had been teaming in AEW and RoH in recent months after being thrown together for a tag team match on Collision against FTR in September. Since then, the two have continued teaming, mostly on Ring of Honor, where the two have discovered an uncanny and natural chemistry rather quickly.
The teams had a good match, though nothing to write home about compared to what preceded them. Really, this match was here to keep the tag titles in LFI while continuing to build Billington and Priest as the burgeoning team that has plenty of upside, but isn’t quite there yet when it comes to winning the “big match.”
RATING – 3/5
A solid match, overall, but again nothing that stands out all that much. Sammy continues to be a standout personality, with LFI seemingly help him shake any remnants of his long association with Chris Jericho off completely. Sammy and Mortos were also scheduled to be in the Survival of the Fittest match for the World Title a little later, so it wasn’t a surprise to seem the two avoid doing anything crazy here.
Eddie Kingston vs. Josh Woods
Next was Eddie Kingston taking on Josh Woods ahead of Kingston’s AEW World Title match against Samoa Joe on AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming.
This match was announced earlier in the day, with Kingston requesting a match ahead of his title match the following week. Woods, who has only wrestled four other times in 2025 under the Ring of Honor banner.
Much like the previous match, it was enjoyable but largely forgettable as it was there as a Kingston showcase more than anything. Woods did get in good strikes and holds against Kingston, but was ultimately hit with a half and half suplex and DDT by Kingston to score the win.
RATING – 2.75/5
There isn’t much to say about this match. Kingston and Woods always work very physical in their matches between the strikes, holds and suplexes so it is still an enjoyable watch. That said, it was easily the most forgettable match on the card.
On a personal note, Woods is one of those people that, much like Ring of Honor on the whole, Tony Khan needs to figure something out with. It is possible a reason for Woods’ lack of appearances is by his own request due to personal reasons, which is his right and a more than fair reason. But if it isn’t and they have just been sitting on him, there is no excuse to not have Woods featured somewhere on AEW or Ring of Honor programming with some regularity.
Ring of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Championship – Shane Taylor Promotions vs. SkyFlight
The show continued as Shane Taylor Promotions, represented by Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, and Shawn Dean, defended the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team titles against Scorpio Sky and Top Flight.
Unlike the previous two matches, this had some build heading into Final Battle as SkyFlight and STP had been trading shots back and forth for several weeks. This included a win for Top Flight against Bravo and Dean, also known as The Infanty. This ultimately led to Sky throwing out the challenge for a title match at Final Battle, a challenge STP was all too happy to accept.
What followed was a fun, chaotic 11-minute sprint of a match that saw everyone get involved in the match, including the teams’ seconds.
As things started to devolve, Trish Adora tripped Dante Martin as he ran the ropes. Leila Grey tripped Carlie Bravo, in return, before the two women got into the ring and began fighting, taking it all the way to the back. Anthony Ogogo entered the ring, with the former Olympic boxer ready to deliver a knockout shot to Dante Martin. Christopher Daniels quickly got in and took Ogogo out with an Angel’s Wings, allowing the match to get focus back on the actual teams in the match.
Darius Martin appeared to have the match in hand after taking out Bravo and Dean, poised to win the match and titles. However, Dean was able to escape an attempted suplex and push Martin into the ropes, who was met with a stiff right hand from Shane Taylor, causing Martin to fall back into a roll up from Dean to retain the six-man belts.
RATING – 3.25/5
It was an overall entertaining six-man tag as the show entered the home stretch, though it was nothing fans familiar with both teams were unfamiliar with. It also feels like there could be more in store from these groups, as it did feel like the six were holding back at times, but only time will tell if these two groups continue running afoul of each other.
AEW National Championship – Ricochet vs. Dalton Castle
In his first defense of the AEW National Championship, Ricochet put the belt up against Ring of Honor mainstay Dalton Castle.
Ricochet won the newly minted title in the Casino Gauntlet at Full Gear in November, pinning Kevin Knight and completing his “quest for gold.” It had been confirmed beforehand, though, that the first title defense would be taking place at Final Battle against an opponent to be determined. Ricochet made that choice much easier on the following AEW Collision when he and the Gates of Agony attacked Dalton Castle and The Outrunners as the three made their entrance for a trios match. Following the show, Castle was named as Ricochet’s opponent and the two didn’t waste time trading barbs.
As for the match itself, the two delivered a competitive match between two wrestlers who could not be any more different stylistically. Ricochet is one of the best high-flyers in the world while Castle has always blended his unique brand of colorful charisma with his background as an amateur wrestler.
Each played to the other’s strengths, with Castle serving as a strong base for Ricochet’s athleticism which, in turn, made it easier for Castle to catch and transition Ricochet into one of many suplexes and holds.
It remained back and forth for a majority of the match until Castle hit the Bangarang on Ricochet and appeared to have the match won. Ricochet, however, managed to kick out and roll out of the ring to catch his breath. Castle gave chase only to have one of his Boys thrown at him, allowing Ricochet to get back in the ring and set up to hit a Spirit Gun against Castle as he reentered the ring and score the win, retaining his title in the process.
Rating – 4/5
Ricochet and Castle made fantastic dance partners for this match, with them meshing in a way that may have caught some fans by surprise. Ricochet continues to thrive under the AEW/RoH umbrella roughly a year and a half after making the jump from WWE to AEW while Castle looks like he is back in top shape after missing nearly a year due to a torn bicep.
Ring of Honor World Championship Survival of the Fittest Match
It is now time to discuss one of the two world title matches scheduled for this show. First is the Survival of the Fittest Match for the Ring of Honor World Championship pitting the champion Bandido against Hechicero, Blake Christian, Sammy Guevara, The Beast Mortos, and Komander.
The match was announced on November 27 by Tony Khan, who later confirmed Bandido was originally going to defend the title against Rush. Due to his knee injury, it was quickly changed to a Survival of the Fittest match that would see Sammy and Mortos pulling double duty on Final Battle, Hechicero get his third shot at the title, while Christian and Komander had been circling the men’s singles championships in the months before.
Given the six involved, there was plenty of crazy high-flying and dangerous spots for fans to watch in amazement and, at times, horror at the risk involved. One in particular saw Komander standing on Bandido’s shoulders as Bandido slowly walked to the edge of the ring. Komander attempted to jump off Bandido’s shoulders but appeared to just fall back into Sammy, Mortos, and Hechicero on the outside in what was likely meant to be a moonsault by Komander on to the three.
Thankfully no one was seriously hurt and the fall still accomplished what Komander and Bandido set out to do.
In his third successful outing on Ring of Honor pay-per-view in 2025, Bandido walked away still Ring of Honor World Champion. Sammy would be the first eliminated, followed shortly after by Beast Mortos. Christian then eliminated Komander before he and Hechicero were eliminated by Bandido.
RATING – 4/5
While it didn’t measure up to Bandido’s last two defenses on Ring of Honor pay-per-view, it was still a worthy pay-per-view title match to bring what has a been a career year for the luchador to an end. Christian, Sammy, Mortos, Komander, and Hechicero continued to look strong, as well, getting multiple moments to shine over the over 27-minute elimination match.
Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship – Athena vs. Persephone
In the main event of Final Battle, Athena put the Women’s World Championship on the line against CMLL standout Persephone.
The 24-year-old has wrestled on AEW and Ring of Honor shows multiple times in 2025, most notably challenging Mercedes Mone for the TBS Championship at AEW Forbidden Door in a four way that included AEW’s Alex Windsor and Stardom’s Bozilla. Mercedes would emerge the victor, but Persephone continued to turn heads and would be brought back sporadically in the following months.
Heading into Final Battle, Persephone challenged Athena for a title match at the show saying she felt owed a match after she and Thunder Rosa defeated Athena and Red Velvet in a tag match in Arena Mexico from Ring of Honor’s Global Wars Mexico special. Athena accepted to Persephone’s face after the latter wrestled in a match on the weekly Ring of Honor show. Persephone would get the advantage before Diamante jumped her, joining Athena as her newest Minion.
And in a shock to likely no one, Athena and Persephone would close out Final Battle with a main event worthy of most major shows.
Athena has easily been one of the best wrestlers, man or woman, in the years for the last two to three years, main eventing multiple Ring of Honor shows and having standout matches globally against names including Willow Nightingale, Momo Watanabe, Saya Kamitani, and La Catalina in everything from singles matches for the Ring of Honor Women’s World title to chaotic multi-person tag matches.
Meanwhile, Persephone has continued her meteoric rise in CMLL as one their standout women thanks to her combination of size, power, and athleticism. 2025, in particular, has been a big year for her between her international exposure and within CMLL, most notably winning the 2025 CMLL International Women’s Grand Prix for Team Mexico.
All this and more was on display in the main event, with Persephone able to match Athena’s athleticism and Athena matching Persephone’s power at multiple points. The two weren’t shy about their strikes, either, laying in stiff shots multiple times over the course of the 27-minute match.
Diamante would join Athena at ringside, though she would not involve herself in the match save for a moment where she helped Athena to her feet while on the outside, only to eat a heavy forearm strike from Persephone that was meant for Athena.
In the closing stretch, Persephone would go for multiple big moves as she tried to put the match away and end Athena’s historic 1000+ day reign. She would post on top of one of the turnbuckles preparing for a moonsault, only for Athena to catch her and hit a massive avalanche German suplex from the top. Athena quickly capitalized, going to another turnbuckle and hitting the O-Face to win.
RATING – 4.5/5
As has almost become standard when Athena is in the main event of a Ring of Honor show, consistently delivering great matches to send the crowd home happy. Persephone more than matched her, though, continuing to prove why she has emerged in 2025 as one of CMLL’s biggest standouts, man or woman, during what has been a boom period for the world’s oldest promotion. It would not at all be surprising if she finds herself joining the elite “dual contract club,” as well, alongside names like Hechicero, Konosuke Takeshita, and Kevin Knight, all three of whom are signed to AEW while also being signed to CMLL or New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of the three companies’ partnership.
OVERALL RATING – 4/5
While the weekly product has plenty of issues that needs to be resolved, Ring of Honor continues to deliver on pay-per-view. The women, in particular, had some of the best outings of the evening as all three title matches delivered in the ring and could easily be considered the top three matches of the night.
The middle stretch of the show, however, does bring the show down a bit. Nothing was bad, but nothing stood out between the World Tag Title match and Woods vs. Kingston while the Six-Man Title Match didn’t go long enough to make any major dent.
That said, it was still a worthwhile show and one worth taking the time to sit down and watch.
Minimum Wage Nerd 