SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
ROH FINAL BATTLE REPORT
DEC. 5, 2025
COLUMBUS, OHIO AT THE GREATEST COLUMBUS CONVENTION CENTER
AIRED LIVE ON HONORCLUB
BY SEAN RADICAN, PWTORCH COLUMNSIT
Announcers: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Jon Moxley
(1) DEONNA PURRAZZO vs. BILLI STARKZ – ROH Womenâ€s Pure Championship Tournament finals
Both women shook hands before the match began.
Billie used her first rope break right away to break a rope submission. They battled around ringside for several minutes before getting back into the ring. Purrazzo continued to go after Starkzâ€s arm and she forced her to use her second rope break with a Fujiwara armbar.
Starkz grabbed a submission on the mat and Purrazzo used her first rope break. The announcers noted that Purrazzo had never used a rope break during the tournament. Purrazzo ended up catching Starkz in Venus de Milo Milo and Starkz verbally submitted.
WINNER: Deonna Purrazzo to win the ROH Womenâ€s Pure Championship Tournament at 13:51. (***1/4)
(Radicanâ€s Analysis: This was a good way to start the main card. It didnâ€t seem like Purrazzo was ever in any danger of winning the match and the finish was anti-climatic, as the match seemed to be just ramping up when Purrazzo won via submission.)
-Queen Aminada came out and said she wanted next as Purrazzo made her way to the back.
(2) ROH Pure Champion LEE MORIARTY (w/Shane Taylor) vs. NIGEL McGUINNESS – 30 Minute Iron Man match
McGuinness wore the origins ROH Pure Title to the ring. Moxley was talking about how McGuinness came from the UK train at HWA and how he had an old tape of Johnny Saint during the tape trading days and it was like gold to have something different to share that nobody else had back during these era when Moriarty got a quick Border City Stretch to go up 1-0. Nigel went after Moriartyâ€s ear and forced him to use the ropes to escape.
McGuinness countered an abdominal stretch and forced Moriarty to use the ropes again to. Real the hold. Nigel continued to focus his attack on Leeâ€s arm. They went to the floor and got back into the ring and Lee caught Nigel with an inside cradle to go up 2-0. Moxley said he doesnâ€t trust anything Moriarty shows in the ring because it could be a feint to set something else up.
McGuinness grabbed an arm submission and Moxley said in commentary he uses the same one and he probably learned it from Nigel when he was 18. McGuinness tried to get Moriarty to tape out to several arm submission attempts, but he wasnâ€t successful. McGuinness got the London Dungeon in the middle of the ring, but Moriarty managed to get to the ropes while still holding a 2-0 advantage.
McGuinness finally got on the board when Moriarty tapped out to the London Dungeon and was down 2-1. He went for the London Dungeon again, but Moriarty countered it into a pinning combination to go up 3-1.
They pushed the pace with eight minutes left in the time limit for several minutes. McGuinness got a cross face, but Moriarty got to the ropes. McGuinness hit the rebound lariat for a near fall as the match approached three minutes left in the time limit.
Taylor got in his way when he went after Moriarty, who used the distraction to get a choke. He held on until seven and got back into the ring. McGuinness barely managed to get to his feet to beat the 10 count. Moriarty got the Border City stretch, but McGuinness got a counter into a pinning combination for a three count to move the deficit to 3-2.
The match had under a minute left in the time limit. McGuinness got a bridging pin a short time later with just under 30 seconds left to even the match at 3-3. He got another pinning combination to go up 4-3. Nigel went to the floor to celebrate, but Taylor attacked him and rolled him back into the ring. Somehow with two seconds left, Lee made cover and got the three count to even the match at 4-4 and time expired. This was a very tight count against the time limit and it was razor close that the pinfall beat the buzzer.
The match was announced and a draw and the fans booed. Nigel headed towards the back, he Moriarty called him back to the ring. He said Nigel has challenged him to see who was better. He said were 1-1 in previous matches. McGuinness came back to the match for one sudden death fall.
The match resumed and McGuinness got a pair of rollups, but Moriarty barely kicked out of each one. They went back and forth trading pinning combinations back and forth, but neither man could get a three count. The fans fired up with fight forever chants. Moriarty got a double arm trap pin and then did a bridge to get his shoulders up to avoids a double pin and it was good for the win.
WINNER: Lee Moriarty in overtime at 31:58 to retain the ROH Pure Championship. (****1/4)
After the match, McGuinness shot down a beaker before giving Moriarty his ROH Pure Title. McGuinness then bowed down to Moriarty. Taylor then went after McGuiness as they left the ring, but Lee backed him away.
Riccaboni noted that Leeâ€s next defense would be against Kommander.
(Radicanâ€s Analysis: What a match! They really pushed the pace almost the entire time and told a great story with Lee seemingly being a step ahead of McGuinness the entire match. McGuinness got into a 3-1 hole, but managed to tie it and go ahead late.
The finish of the 30 minute time limit was a bit much with Taylor attacking McGuinness to allow Moriarty to tie the match. It felt very rushed and it was hard to tell if the three count actually beat the buzzer. Aside from them going for a finish that was a bit too ambitious, this was tremendous from start to finish.)
—Moxley got out of his seat and fit a promo to build up his Continental Classic match against Konosuke Takeshita on Collision.
(3) ROH Womenâ€s World TV Champion MERCEDES MONE vs. RED VELVET
Velvet jumped Mone during the introductions. They went at a quick pace early and did a rolling small package spot that saw Velvet nearly get a three count. Mone took control and began taunting Velvet. She told her that sheâ€s no champion and that sparked Velvetâ€s comeback. She hit a big double knee strike up against the ropes and the fans chanted for Velvet.
Velvet missed a charge into the corner and got hung up allowing Mone to hit a lung blower. She followed up with a running double knee strike to Velvetâ€s head that was propped up on the bottom rope. Mone went for the Money Maker, but Velvet blocked it.
Velvet countered Mone up top and hit a code red. She then hit a spin kick (Stir it up) to Moneâ€s head for a near fall. The announcers said that was her finish. The fans counted along with the ref, but Mone kicked out at the last second. Velvet hit a standing Stir it Up for another near fall. Mone got the cross face, but Mone turned it into a pinning combination for the win!
WINNER: Red Velvet at 13:47 to become the new ROH Womenâ€s World TV Champion. (***3/4)
Mone sold shock inside the ring after losing. Confetti filled the ring and Velvet went to the floor to celebrate with the fans.
(Radicans Analysis: This was a big step forward for Red Velvet. She looked really good here wrestling a big star in Mercedes Mone. The match itself built nicely from start to finish with some really good near falls before Velvet got the win with a pinning combination. This was a much better match than their match on Dynamite recently.)
(4) LFI (The Beast Mortos & Sammy Guevara) vs. TOMMY BILLINGTON & ADAM PRIEST – Vacant ROH World Tag Team Championship match
Jay Lethal came out with Billington and Priest before heading to the back. This match is happening due to Rushâ€s injury. Guevara took Riccaboniâ€s headset and talked some junk while Mortonâ€s controlled the action in the ring. Guevara hit a knee to Priestâ€s back from the apron a short time later to give Mortos the upper hand.
Guevara and Mortos tagged in and out to work over Priest. The fans cheered Mortos and booed Guevara. Priest finally fended off both men and tagged in Billington, who ran wild. The action broke down and Billington and Priest hit stereo dives to the floor.
Hechicero ran down and knocked Priest off the top rope. Guevara then hit a low blow on Billington, who was up top. Mortos wiped out Billington with a clothesline. He then hit a spinal tap for the win.
WINNERS: LFI at 13:10 to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. (**3/4)
(Radicans Analysis: Not much to this one. Billington and Priest both looked good here, but most of the match was used to set up that Mortos is a good guy and Guevara is a jerk. Iâ€m guessing this was done to foreshadow what might happen in the Survival of the Fittest main event where Guevara and Mortos will be opponents.)
-The announcers talked about Kingston facing Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship on Dynamite next week. They then aired a video package for the Joe vs. Kingston match.
(5) EDDIE KINGSTON vs. JOSH WOODS
Woods and Kingston shook hands before the match began. Kingston hit some hard chops on Woods during the early going. Woods fired back and hit a big suplex for a 2 count. Kingston fired back and hit his signifier machine gun chops and the fans applauded, but Woods quickly grabbed an arm submission on the mat.
Kingston struggled, but got to the ropes. They went up top a short time later and Kingston hit a superplex. Woods turned the tide a short time later and he hit a rolling German with a bridge and Kingston had to use the ropes to break the pin. Kingston shouted out Samoa Joe and hit a big DDT for the win.
WINNER: Eddie Kingston at 9:42. (**1/2)
(Radicans Analysis: This was a good showing for Woods, but this was more of a showcase for Kingston ahead of his match against Joe next week than anything else.
This match didnâ€t do a lot to get me excited for the Joe vs. Kingston match for the AEW World Championship on Dynamite next week.)
(6) STP (Shane Taylor & Charlie Bravo & Shawn Dean w/ Trish Adora & Anthony Ogogo) vs. SKYFLIGHT (Scorpio Sky & Dante Martin & Darius Martin w/ Christopher Daniels & Leila Grey) – ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship match
STP jumped their opponents before the bell rang and the match was on. Darius ran wild hitting a one man Spanish fly on Dean and then going right to the floor to wipe out Taylor with a Tope. Darius eventually got cut off and Taylor worked him over inside the ring. At one point Dean wiped out Dante with an incredible flip dive over the top to the floor and the fans fired up.
Dante got the hot tag and got right to work on cutting STP down to size. Adora eventually tripped him to give her team the upper hand, so Grey returned the favor and tripped Bravo in the other side. Adora and grey went at it some the ring before rolling to the floor. Ogogo tried to interfere, but Daniels nailed him with Angels Wings. The action broke down and Taylor nailed Darius with a punch from the floor and Dean rolled him up for the win.
WINNERS: STP at 11:30 to retain the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship. (**1/2)
(Radicans Analysis: This was fine, but itâ€s hard to care about a match with the six man titles on the line in ROH, especially one thatâ€s filled with outside interference. It felt at times they were just hitting spots back and forth with neither team trying to end the match. Thereâ€s a fine line when it comes to doing that styles of match and it just didnâ€t work well here.)
(7) RICOCHET vs. DALTON CASTLE (w/The Boys) – AEW National Championship match
This is the first time an AEW Championship has been defended in ROH. Ricochet snapped Castleâ€s neck over the ropes and wiped him out with a dive to the floor. They had a fast exchange and Ricochet ended up hitting Naitoâ€s signature corner basement drop kick on Castle.
Castle kept rolling out of the way when Ricochet tried to go up top. Ricochet tried to go for a handspring, but Castle caught him and hit a release German and both men were down. Castle countered the Spirit Gun and went for the Bang-a-Rang, but Ricochet escaped at the last second.
Ricochet blocked another Bang-a-Rang attempt. They went at it on the apron and Castle eventually hit a suplex. He hit another suplex on the floor. Castle finally hit the Bang-a-Rang, but Ricochet kicked out at the last second. Ricochet pushed one of The Boys into Castle on the floor. He then nailed Castle with the Spirit Gun once he got back into the Ring.
WINNER: Ricochet at 14:55. (***1/4)
(Radicans Analysis: This was very good at times and Castle looked to be moving better than he has in quite some time. The crowd didnâ€t support the match much and that hurt the atmosphere. It also didnâ€t help the crowd response to the finish that the previous match had had a fluke finish as well.)
(8) ROH World Champion BANDIDO VS. SAMMY GUEVARA vs. THE BEAST MORTOS vs. BLAKE CHRISTIAN vs. HECHICERO vs. KOMAMDER – Survival of the Fittest match
LFI ended up clearing the ring. They then immediately turned on each other and began fighting inside the ring. Guevara and Mortos went after Hechicero. LFI then got overtaken and the other participants took control and worked together. For some reason Blake just stood there to take a double DDT from Komander. Bandido set up Guevara for Komander, who walked the ropes and hit a gorgeous moonsault for the pin.
The match turned into a spot fest with some crazy moves executed on Mortos. Hechicero took down Mortos with a running headscissors driver to eliminate him. Christian hit a flurry of offense and eliminated Komander with a Lethal Injection.
Itâ€s down to Christian, Bandido, and Hechicero. They pulled off some spectacular spots and the crowd fired up. Bandido hit a big frog splash on Christian, but he kicked out at the last second. Christian countered the 21 Plex into a Lethal Injection for a near fall. Bandido flipped off Hechicero right into a code red on Christian to eliminate him. Christian ended up snapping Bandidoâ€s arm before leaving.
The last two men in the match are Bandido and Hechicero. Bandido was attended to on the outside. He ended up back in the ring. Hechicero tried to take a chair into the ring, but the ref stopped him. Hechicero got a rolling crucifix and turned it into a pinning combination for a near fall. Bandido eventually got a small package for the win.
WINNER: Bandido at 27:55 to retain the ROH World Championship. (***3/4)
(Radicanâ€s Analysis: This was a collection of some great multi-man spots from start to finish. It seemed to be a bit too choreographed to me at times, but the live crowd ate it up. It felt like this was going to be just a spot-fest, but Bandido ended up selling his arm down the stretch to add some much needed drama to the match.)
-Mercedes Mone was shown backstage after her loss. Grey tried to comfort her, but Mone told her to get out of her face. She tried to challenge Mone, but she said sheâ€s getting the hell out of Ohio. Riccaboni then said Mone would defend her TBS Championshop against Grey.
-The announcers previewed Collision. They then transitioned to plugging the matches coming on Dynamite next week.
The announcers said it was time for the main event part 2.
(9) ROH Womenâ€s World Champion Athena vs. Persephone
Persephone, who is from CMLL, got the upper hand early and worked over Athena. The match became a war of attrition as it wore on. Athena eventually sent Persephone to the floor and Athena wiped her out witn a tope. She went for another dive, but Persephone caught her and hit a roll of the dice on the floor.
Persephone lifted up Athena, but Diamanté interfered. Persephone wiped her out and then set up a dive to wipe out Athena and Diamanté. The announcers said the match was going longer than Persephone is used to. She continued to target Athenaâ€s back. She locked in a Texas Cloverleaf and Athena screamed in pain and almost tapped, but she managed to get to the ropes.
Athena mounted a comeback and hit a running knee to the head and then a step up moonsault out of the corner for a near fall. They traded counters and Persephone went for the Razors Edge, but Athena countered it and hit a Flatliner and then applied the Koji Clutch. Persephone escaped the Koji Clutch and Athena taunted her after hitting a slap.
Persephone fired up and hit a flurry of offense. She hit a big spear and then went for the Razors Edge, but Athena kicked out! WOW! She went up top, but Athena rose from the ashes and hit a release German out of the corner. OMG! She then hit the O-face for the win. What a match!
WINNER: Athena at 27:06 to retain the ROH Womenâ€s World Championship. (****1/2)
(Radicans Analysis: This was an epic main event. Persephone gave it everything she had. She targeted Athenaâ€s back and the match built up to her trying to hit the Razorâ€s Edge for the win. Athena kept countering it, but Persephone finally landed it. Athenaâ€s kickout at the last second really was shocking.)
Overall thoughts: (7.5) – The show really dragged in parts and was entirely too long. Several matches could have been cut and saved for ROH TV episodes. A more concise show featuring mostly the best matches on this card would have made for a great three hours of viewing. The feeling that there’s not much potential for upward momentum for the wrestlers on the ROH roster makes it hard to care about a lot of the action.
This PPV had some really good matches on it that are worth going out of your way to see, but on a weekend as busy as this one it’s likely a lot of people are going to overlook the show. It was a real treat having Jon Moxley on commentary for the first couple of matches on the card as well. He was really good and added in some great stories, especially during the Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness ROH Pure Title match.
The Nigel McGuiness vs. Lee Moriarty ROH Pure Championship match was a delight. The finish of the time limit was a bit too much, but outside of that, it was fantastic. Mercedes Mone vs. Red Velvet was what felt like a huge moment for Red Velvet, as she beat Mone to capture the ROH Women’s World TV Championship. If Velvet stays on ROH TV and doesn’t get any AEW TV exposure after this, it won’t do much for her career going forward.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Survival of the Fittest format, but the match was a lot of fun in spots on this card. The match was heavy on multi-man spots for a long period of time and they were really good, but it got to be a bit too much at times. What made the march work for me was Bandido selling his arm to set up the finish. It seemed like he was in danger of losing to either Christian or Hechicero down the stretch only to pull out the victory in the end.
The main event was the best match of the show. Persephone put in a great performance here and set up her finish by working over Athena’s back for most of the match. The match built up to Persephone giving it everything she had to put Athena away. She couldn’t hit the Razor’s Edge and when she finally did, Athena kicked out at the last second. This was a really strong main event to cap off the show.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow on Blusky: @SeanRadican and on X: @SR_Torch
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.