Ring of Honor's annual Final Battle pay-per-view emanated from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City this year, which every longtime wrestling fan knows is a building heavily associated with ECW.

To bring things full circle, Chris Jericho, the only ECW veteran who is still an active competitor for All Elite Wrestling and ROH, entered the PPV as the men's world champion against Matt Cardona.

Athena walked into Final Battle as the longest-reigning champion in ROH history, and she looked to extend that run against her former protégé, Billie Starkz.

This year's event featured over a dozen matches between the pre-show and main card. The men's and women's world title bouts were billed as co-main events, but a handful of other titles were defended, too.

Let's take a look at everything that happened at this year's ROH Final Battle PPV.

Final Battle Match Card

Here is the full card for this year's Final Battle:

• Harley Cameron vs. Hanako
• The Infantry vs. The Indisputed Kingdom
• The Dark Order vs. Grizzled Young Veterans
• LEEJ vs. Gates of Agony
• The Sons of Texas vs. The Righteous (Texas Bull Rope match for the ROH Tag Team Championships)
• Jay Lethal vs. Q.T. Marshall
• Red Velvet vs. Leyla Hirsch (ROH Women's World Television Championship)
• Lee Moriarty vs. TBA (ROH Pure Championship)
• Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack vs. Mark Davis vs. AR Fox vs. Blake Christian vs. Komander (Survival of the Fittest match for Men's Television Championship)
• Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billington
• Mansoor vs. Atlantis Jr.
• Chris Jericho vs. Matt Cardona (ROH Men's World Championship)
• Athena vs. Billie Starkz (ROH Women's World Championship)

Zero Hour

John Silver and Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order took on James Drake and Zack Gibson in the first match on the Zero Hour.

This was a solid match with a good pace that only got better as it went on. Reynolds did a lot of the heavy lifting since Silver had an injured hamstring, but all four men worked hard to make this work. The Grizzled Young Veterans scored the win despite Evil Uno's best efforts.

Result: GYV defeated Dark Order

Grade: B

The second Zero Hour bout featured Cameron taking on STARDOM's Hanako. Cameron didn't seem intimidated by her stronger opponent and went at her head first.

Most of this match was a series of spots involving Harley trying to get the upper hand only for Hanako to get the better of her, but the rumored face behind Harleygram put up a good fight. Hanako ended up winning with a torture rack slam.

Result: Hanako defeated Cameron

Grade: C

Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean were accompanied by Trish Adora for their tag team match against Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. The Infantry attacked The Undisputed Kingdom before the bell to get an early advantage.

Both teams looked good, but The Infantry seemed to stand out a bit more. Bravo and Dean have turned into a well-oiled machine and keep getting better. The Undisputed Kingdom scored the win after an entertaining exchange.

Result: The Undisputed Kingdom defeated The Infantry

Grade: B

Lee Johnson and EJ Nduka were in action in the final Zero Hour match against Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona.

This was a hard-hitting encounter with Liona and Nduka standing out for their stiff strikes. It took two finishers to put Johnson away, but Liona and Kaun did it eventually to score the win.

Result: Gates of Agony defeated LEEJ

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• AEW needs to sell GYV scarves. 
• Reynolds and Gibson both attempted an arm drag at the same time. It was an interesting way to come to a stalemate. 
• Cameron needs her own entrance music. 
• This was Taven's 10th Final Battle. Ian Ricabonni noted that he was the world champion the last time ROH was in the Hammerstein Ballroom. 
• Kaun's entrance gear was cool. 
• Nduka's Spear barely had any speed behind it, so it looked a little weird when Liona sold it. 

Mansoor vs. Atlantis Jr.

The first match on the main card saw Mansoor of MxM Collection take on the former ROH TV champion, Atlantis Jr.

Both men played some mind games during the Code of Honor handshake, but it was Atlantis who found himself on defense early on. Mansoor did a surprisingly good job outmaneuvering the luchador.

Mansoor took the low road and tried to rip off Atlantis's mask but was unable to remove it. He continued to rely on interference and dirty tactics to keep the upper hand for several minutes.

A shocking appearance from Danhausen prevented Madden from cheating again and got a huge pop from the crowd. Atlantis began building momentum and hit a frog splash for the win.

Result: Atlantis Jr. defeated Mansoor

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Atlantis having a relatively basic mask and tights makes him look like a bit of a throwback. If you look at luchadors from the '80s, most of them had similar looks. 
• Madden yanked Atlantis off the apron and he hit the floor hard. 
• Atlantis hit a nice cartwheel crucifix pin.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billington

Billington made his ROH debut at this event in a singles match against the former ROH pure champion, Shibata.

This was not a match built on animosity or an existing story, so both men came into it showing a healthy level of respect for each other.

The Dynamite Kid showed a lot of skill, but most of this match felt like Shibata teaching the young talent a lesson.

They used a steady pace that allowed them to sell every big move without rushing or feeling like they were taking too much time.

Despite his best efforts, Billington was forced to tap out to the sleeper. This was a great bell-to-bell performance from both men.

Result: Shibata defeated Billington

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Billington needs something to make his entrance more memorable. 
• Shibata has some of the smoothest counters.
• The way Shibata was thrown through the ropes looked brutal. It was hard to tell but he might have caught his neck on one of the ropes. 
• Billington's springboard DDT didn't look so good.

QT Marshall vs. Jay Lethal

Marshall thought he was facing Lethal in this match, but he ended up facing Black Machismo, which is Lethal's alter ego that pays homage to Randy Savage.

QT took a cheap shot after they shook hands, but Lethal fired back immediately to take control. These are two men who are known for being good workers, so found their chemistry right away.

This match had plenty of comedy spots without sacrificing the actual wrestling. They struck a good balance between going for laughs and trying to hurt each other.

Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Aaron Solo and Sonjay Dutt all got involved toward the end to make this a chaotic mess that the crowd seemed to be loving.

Both men came close to winning a few times before the match ended with Black Machismo getting the victory.

Result: Lethal defeated Marshall

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Marshall's gear looked kind of like Savage's NWO attire, which made Lethal's outfit even funnier. 
• The moment at ringside between Lethal and Karen Jarrett was hilarious. 
• The stuff with Dutt and Solo was a nice moment for Dutt. 
• Marshall hitting Lethal's finisher was impressive even if it didn't look very smooth. 

Red Velvet vs. Leyla Hirsch

The women's TV title was on the line as Red Velvet took on Hirsch in the next matchup. Velvet was accompanied to the ring by a rapper who sang along to her music.

Legit Leyla was clearly taking this title shot seriously and took control immediately. It took a couple of minutes, but once Velvet made a comeback, she started putting Hirsch through the wringer.

Legit Leyla started favoring the elbow she had previously injured but told the ref she could continue. She even began focusing on Velvet's arm so both women were wrestling with the same handicap.

The level of physicality may surprise some people, but anyone who has been following Hirsch's career wasn't surprised to see her pull out some big spots for this match.

Both women put forth a great effort to make sure they were not overshadowed. Velvet ended up resoting to using a wrench as a weapon when the ref was distracted. She knocked out Hirsch and picked up the win, but there is a good chance this feud isn't over.

Result: Velvet defeated Hirsch

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package for this match was effective because it told the story of their feud in less than a minute. 
• Velvet's Christmas gear was contrasted by Hirsch's black and white gear. 
• The announcers didn't tell us who was rapping Velvet to the ring. It would have been nice to get a name. 
• The swing-out German suplex Hirsch hit from the top turnbuckle almost didn't connect, but they made it work. 
• When they were slapping each other, they were really letting each other have it. 

Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness

Jerry Lynn, Rocky Romero and Christopher Daniels served as the judges for the ROH Pure Championship open challenge. Moriarty came out with Shane Taylor by his side to take on a mystery opponent who ended up being Nigel McGuinness.

The crowd went wild as McGuinness made his way to take on a stunned champion. He grabbed a mic and said he wanted this match to be under the original pure title rules. Moriarty agreed to the stipulation after some goading.

They started with some simple submissions and counters. McGuinness was looking good despite only having two matches in the past 13 years. He even tricked Moriarty into using his first two rope breaks.

This was a fantastic display of technical ability from an up-and-coming star and a veteran who was hoping for one last iconic moment in his career.

Both men exhausted their three rope breaks around the 14-minute mark, so the ropes could no longer save someone from a pin or submission. After a great performance by both men, Taigastyle got the win to retain his title.

Result: Moriarty defeated McGuinness

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcers noted that Nigel came into this match with a 4-0 record in the Hammerstein Ballroom. 
• Nigel said so very adult jokes we can't repeat here before the match got started. 
• You would never know Nigel took more than a decade away from the ring. He's still got it. 

Sons of Texas vs. Righteous

For the first time ever, ROH hosted a double bull rope match for the tag titles with Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes defending the belts against Dutch and Vincent.

They started brawling before the champions could even get to the ring, so they spent a few minutes fighting before anyone was tied to each other.

Once they finally attached the bull ropes, the ref called for the bell to get things started. Guevara was tied to Vincent while Dustin was attached to Dutch.

This was the most chaotic match on the card by far. They fought all over the arena and used several different weapon, including the same bull rope Dusty Rhodes once used.

If you like mayhem, you would probably love this match because it had plenty to go around. Rhodes and Guevara were able to get the win to retain their titles after a hard-fought battle.

Result: The Sons of Texas defeated The Righteous

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Guevara's standing moonsault looked great.
• They took way too long setting up the double Shattered Dreams. 
• Guevara and Vincent did a good job making the double crossbody spot look perfectly timed. 
• Guevara took a brutal bump through a table. 

Survival of the Fittest TV Title Match

Cage put his TV title on the line against five other competitors in a Survival of the Fittest match. Komander, Christian, Fox, Davis and Mack were all looking to dethrone The Machine.

Here is the order of eliminations:

1. Mack was eliminated by Cage
2. Fox was eliminated by Cage
3. Cage was eliminated by Davis
4. Davis was eliminated by Christian

Matches with this many people can sometimes be tough to follow, but they did a good job making sure all of the big spots were highlighted. It never felt like the camera was missing something by focusing on someone else, which can often be an issue with multi-man bouts.

All six men worked their butts off to make sure they stood out. There wasn't a single weak link in this chain. Everyone played their part and made their opponents look good at the same time.

Everyone in the arena was shocked when Cage was eliminated third, which guaranteed the match would end with a new champion. It came down to Komander and Christian at the end. They fought for several more minutes and traded some high-risk moves before Komander won with a shooting star press to become the new ROH TV champion.

This is one of the best Survival of the Fittest matches ROH has ever done. Everyone looked great, they had numerous memorable spots, and the crowd was invested from start to finish. You need to see this to truly understand how good it was.

Result: Komander won to become the new TV champion

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Mack had some Christmas-themed gear complete with a Santa hat. 
• Cage threw Fox over the top rope with authority. Komander and Christian had a hard time catching him. 
• Komander's corkscrew moonsault looked awesome. 
• Cage using one arm to slam Komander was incredible impressive. 
• The way Cage sold a piledriver from Davis was amazing. 

Chris Jericho vs. Matt Cardona

Cardona walked in from the street through the crowd as he made his entrance for his match against Jericho for the title. He got a nice reaction from the NY crowd, and his parents were sitting front row to take it all in.

Jericho's entrance included some dancers, Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York," and a Statue of Liberty mask.

Cardona almost won with a Rough Ryder right out of the gate, but The King of New York kicked out at the last possible moment. The crowd was heavily in favor of Cardona as he took it to the champ.

The referee seemed to allow all rules to be thrown out the window as Cardona used the belt as a weapon and Bryan Keith interfered with no recpercussions.

They knew they had a tough act to follow with the TV title bout, but they did a good job keeping the crowd awake after it had already been there for over four hours.

Jericho played his usual scumbag heel character well, and that made it easy for Cardona to be the default babyface in his home state. However, the NY crowd's support wasn't enough to help him overcome interference from Big Bill and Bryan Keith.

Bandido came out to make the save and drive The Learning Tree out of the ring.

Result: Jericho defeated Cardona

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The mask Jericho wore was either the wrong size or he wore it wrong. There is no way the intended design was meant to cover his mouth like that. 
• The announcers seemed genuinely surprised to see Cardona use the belt like a whip.
• For some reasons, countouts were still being enforced. Cardona barely beat the 20-count at one point. 
• Something weird happened after Bandido hit a missile dropkick. He was either having trouble with his mask or hit his head and had trouble getting up. 

Athena vs. Billie Starkz

The final match of Final Battle was the culmination of over a year of storytelling between Athena and Starkz. After becoming the first women's TV champion, Starkz was looking to win her first world title by defeating her former mentor.

They observed the Code of Honor but Athena used it as a way to take the first shot and gain control. Starkz fired back with some big right hands to show she wasn't going to be intimidated.

They wasted no time making this feel like a personal battle with a lot of animosity. The title was almost secondary to their personal feud, which is a testament to how good both women have been during this storyline.

A lot of people thought Starkz would finally end Athena's reign of terror, but she came up short once again. The Forever Champ retained her title and celebrated as her former minion cried in the middle of the ring.

The match was outstanding, but not having a title change here feels like a mistake. This was the moment to make Starkz into a main event star in ROH.

Result: Athena defeated Starkz

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Athena wore face paint to make herself look like Two Face. Starkz was wearing very patriotic gear. 
• Athena's handspring forearm in the corner looked awesome. 
• The way Athena transitioned from blocking a kick into a stretch muffler submission was great. 
• Starkz hit a beautiful swanton bomb from the middle rope to the floor. 

The Final Word

ROH Final Battle may not stand out as one of the best PPVs in the company's history, but it was a fun way to spend a Saturday night.

Just about every match was enjoyable, but there were three that stood out from the 13 we saw, and all of them involved championships.

Moriarty and McGuinness delivered a clinic in technical wrestling, the Survival of the Fittest match for the men's TV title was the best kind of spot fest, and the women's world title bout closed the show with a memorable performance from the two women who have helped carry this brand for the past two years.

Athena and Starkz have one of the longest-running stories in all AEW programming, so they had a lot to live up to on Saturday. While the ending may not have been what everyone was hoping for, they still delivered a terrific performance.

Grade: B+