Mercedes Martinez and Athena are two extremely capable veterans of the squared circle, yet their bout at Final Battle often played out in disinterested silence.
Sure, the College Park Center was into some of the bigger spots of the match, but large parts of this contest had fans sat on their hands. Was this due to Martinez having been off TV for three months? Was it that those fans were still adjusting to Athena's position as a villain? Was it that this bout felt thrown together with minimal build?
The truth is that the oft-tepid reaction to Martinez vs. Athena was a mixture of the above issues, with this very much feeling like it was on the card merely because Tony Khan realised he needed to put an ROH Women's Title bout at Final Battle. As such, the match ultimately felt like an afterthought despite both wrestlers busting their ass.
Having Athena emerge victorious was the predictable, logical call, and her recent character tweak certainly makes the War Goddess an intriguing proposition to head up the ROH women's ranks. Hopefully future title defences for the one-time Ember Moon are done with more build, though.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
