Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion Athena proved that she is indeed the ‘forever champion’ with another successful title defense at ROH Final Battle. In the show’s main event, Athena defended against her former ‘minion’ Billie Starkz, one year removed from the pair’s previous match for the title at Final Battle 2023.
You can check out some highlights of the match down below:
HERE WE GO! Who leaves the Hammerstein Ballroom with the #ROH Women's World Title held high?
With another victory to her name, the question remains: Who can stop the forever champion? Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on Athena and her historic reign with the Ring of Honor Women’s World Championship.
This week’s ROH Final Battle will mark Billie Starkz’s second consecutive challenge against Athena, following her narrow defeat in last year’s main event. In an interview with SEScoops‘ Ella Jay, Starkz reflected on her growth since her previous encounter with the Forever Champion.
“Genuinely just being able to be in the AEW environment. Being around all these women and learning over the last year, I feel like I’ve grown as a competitor. I’m 10 times the monster that I was at the last Final Battle.”
Before their rivalry intensified, Athena served as a mentor to Starkz during their time in ROH. However, the champion’s mistreatment of her “minion” ultimately ended their partnership. While Starkz is determined to dethrone Athena this week, she acknowledged the champion’s influence on her career.
“She’s a great mentor. She’s one of the smartest brains in wrestling and she’s been doing this for over a decade. I feel like Athena is willing to help out women’s wrestling but in the most narcissistic way.”
Athena’s self-assuredness is not without merit. Since capturing the ROH Women’s World Title in December 2022, she has defended it 25 times against competitors such as Starkz, Marina Shafir, and Willow Nightingale. Athena not only holds the record for the longest reign as ROH Women’s Champion but also the longest reign of any ROH Champion in history, regardless of sex.
ROH Final Battle 2024 will take place on December 20, from the legendary Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest from the show, and whether Starkz can do what no woman has been able to when stepping in the ring with Athena.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena believes her upcoming match with Billie Starkz is going to close the ROH Final Battle 2024 PPV from Hammerstein Ballroom.
The two female stars have been involved in a long-running feud. The upcoming event will bring their storyline to a full circle as the Forever Champion first won her title at the same PPV in 2022. She also defended the championship against Starkz at the 2023 edition of the show.
Despite Chris Jericho defending the ROH Championship against Matt Cardona at the event, many fans believe that the female competitors have earned the right to headline the night.
Athena addressed the topic in a new interview with Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture. She claimed that her and Starkz will become the first female competitor for ROH to main event the legendary arena:
“I think we are going to be, me and minion 4,237 and 3 quarters or whatever she wants to be referred to now, I don’t really care, but we will be the first women to main event in Hammerstein as far as I know, as far as Ring Of Honor goes anyway. That could be a really cool moment, another history on the belt there.”
Tony Khan was also asked about the same during the Final Battle media call but the ROH owner only said that the show will have a ‘double main event.’
Apart from these two bouts, the upcoming ROH show will feature matches such as Jay Lethal vs. Q. T. Marshall, and The Sons of Texas vs. The Righteous. You can check out our predictions for the show here.
The long-anticipated ROH Women’s Championship rematch between Athena and Billie Starkz has finally been made official for the upcoming Final Battle PPV.
The Final Battle event holds special importance for the current champion as her historic reign began at the 2022 edition of the show. She successfully defeated her former protege Starkz in a match during the 2023 edition of the ROH PPV to retain the title.
The two have continued feuding since then with Athena surpassing Samoa Joe to become the longest reigning title holder in ROH history in September this year. The upcoming match which was made official during the December 12 episode of ROH TV on Honor Club will bring the storyline between the two female stars to a full circle.
ROH Final Battle 2024 Updated Card
During the same episode, it was also announced that Jay Lethal will be returning to the brand at the upcoming PPV to face QT Marshall. Below is the updated card for the show:
ROH Women’s TV Championship Match: Red Velvet (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch
ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Matt Cardona
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: The Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch)
Singles Match: Jay Lethal vs. Q. T. Marshall
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Billie Starkz
Final Battle 2024 will be taking place from the Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday, December 20, 2024.
Athena may be the unquestionable top woman in Ring of Honor, but Booker T feels so much more could be done with the Women’s World Champion. On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker, who trained Athena, argued that the ex-WWE Superstar should be a regular on AEW’s televised programs.
“Athena would fit right into the AEW women’s roster. She’s just as good, if not better… instead, they stick her in a box and put her in Ring of Honor.”
Though a regular in Ring of Honor, Athena rarely appears on AEW programming, with her most recent match for the brand coming back in April. That match is also Athena’s only AEW match of the past year, something that Booker would like to see change.
On the podcast, Booker also addressed AEW’s ratings, which have taken a slump in recent years. The days of Tony Khan boasting about over a million fans tuning into Dynamite are a distant memory and Booker shared what he’d be doing if he was in Khan’s shoes.
“If I saw the ratings drop that low, I’d be thinking about getting some help or shutting it down—one of the two.”
Athena recently passed 700 days as ROH Women’s World Champion, more than any other champion and more days than all other champions combined. Nevertheless, Booker believes there’s a lot more that can be done with his pupil, and has been underwhelmed by Athena being ‘boxed in’ as part of Ring of Honor.
In 2022, Athena joined AEW/Ring of Honor and instantly made an impression by capturing the ROH Women’s World Championship. Athena won the gold at ROH Final Battle 2022 from Mercedes Martinez and now her reign has reached a historic milestone.
Today, Sunday, September 15, 2024, marks day 646 of Athena’s reign as ROH Women’s World Champion. By reaching this point in the reign, Athena has broken the record of the longest-reigning champion in Ring of Honor history, regardless of sex. The record had previously been held by Samoa Joe who held the ROH World Championship for 645 days from March 2003 to December 2004.
Athena’s historic reign has seen her defend her title 23 times against the likes of Madison Rayne, Willow Nightingale, Hikaru Shida, and Skye Blue, among others. Athena also holds the distinction of having held the ROH Women’s World Championship longer than all other former champions combined. The previous champions (Rok-C, Deonna Purrazzo, and Mercedes Martinez) collectively held the title for 487 days before Athena dominated the scene.
On Twitter, ROH shared their respect for the record-breaker.
Congratulations to ATHENA: the longest reigning ROH Champion EVER at 646 days! pic.twitter.com/2fK7kCkdA7
After a tenure on WWE’s main roster that many, including Athena herself, found underwhelming, the Fallen Goddess has found her place atop the Ring of Honor women’s roster. Stay tuned to SEScoops for all the latest from Athena and her historic reign as ROH Women’s World Champion.
Posted September 15th, 2024 in ROH. Tagged: Athena.
Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion seemingly suffered an injury during a match that could have dire implications for her historic title reign.
The incident in question took place during Athena’s match with Viva Van which took place as part of the recent AEW Collision taping. Athena charged at Van who ducked the attack and pulled down the middle rope with Athena taking a bump between the ropes and landing on the outside.
When Athena returned to the ring, she was limping but had enough in her to drill Van with a forearm smash and pin her opponent. Van kicked out the first time but stayed down the second time so it appears that Athena relayed to the referee that she had been hurt.
There’s questions over what the future holds for the ROH Women’s World Champion.
This situation share some similarities with what transpired in late 2023 between Jon Moxley and Rey Fenix. During their AEW International Title match, Moxley suffered an injury and called for the match to be ended early. Unfortunately, the referee Rick Knox did not quite understand and stopped a pinfall attempt by Fenix even when Moxley had not kicked out. Knox later counted the pinfall and reportedly earned heat backstage for not ending the match early.
This situation will of course raise questions about Athena’s immediate future and the future of the Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion. The War Goddess has held the title for over 525 days after capturing the title at ROH Final Battle in December 2022. She holds the record for the most days as champions and has held the title for more days than all other champions put together.
Last week, AEW President Tony Khan announced that the company will be heading back to Boston, Massachusetts on March 13 for a special edition of AEW Dynamite. According to Khan, the show which is titled Big Business, will be “one of the most important nights in AEW.”
While AEW has yet to reveal further details on the event, recent reports have indicated that “The CEO” Mercedes Mone (formerly known as WWE’s Sasha Banks) is expected to make her AEW debut at Big Business. AEW previously showed Mone in attendance for their August 2023 All In event in London.
Athena Wants “The CEO”
Given these recent developments, Sunday Night’s Main Event asked the ROH Women’s Champion about the possibility of Mercedes Mone becoming ‘All Elite’ in her hometown of Boston, MA in just a matter of weeks.
Athena is “immensely curious” to see if Mercedes Mone arrives at Big Business. She said she and the entire AEW locker room are hoping it happens, but Tony Khan is keeping things close to the vest and nobody knows for sure.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena
Ember Moon and Sasha Banks crossed paths a few times in WWE, but they never squared off one-one-one. She considers Mercedes Mone a dream opponent and may finally get her wish later this year in an AEW ring.
“I might finally get one of my dream matches,” she said. “That is one of the coolest things because I’ve shared the ring with this person for many times, and whether we were on the same tag team at live events in WWE, to us getting to briefly touch at Money in the Bank, to us briefly touching in this awesome fatal four-way we had on Raw, I just wish the world for this person because she is someone that I think is one of the absolute best wrestlers in the world.”
Stacking Up
Athena considers herself to be “immensely” humble, despite the talent and work ethic its taken to establish herself as one of the top wrestlers in the world. As much as she’s accomplished, she’s eager to see how she’d stack up against someone she’s looked up to for so long. Aside from that, she wants to see what they can create together.
“I’m a firm believer of, when you have two dedicated women, to the cause, it’s going to be money and it’s going to be magic. I just have to have it. I don’t care if I have to go to Japan for it. I just have to get it one time.”
Athena is far from the only AEW wrestler who is eager to mix it up with Mercedes Mone. As you can read about below, former AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker is also on that list. Mone, Baker, WWE Superstars Bayley and Naomi were all spotted together at the Super Bowl this past weekend in Las Vegas.
Swerve Strickland showed his appreciation to some of the exceptional black wrestlers who helped shape his career on this week’s episode of AEW Collision.
February is Black History Month, in which the accomplishments of black individuals are recognised, as they have often been overlooked in the past. AEW features some excellent black wrestlers on its roster, including Jay Lethal, The Acclaimed, Marq Quen, Keith Lee, and Lee Moriarty, to name just a few.
Swerve Strickland on Black History Month
On this week’s episode of AEW Collision, Strickland addressed Black History Month during an in-ring interview with Tony Schiavone. Strickland referred to some of the black wrestlers who have inspired him and didn’t let his credit be reserved to just one promotion.
“Black History [Month], the celebration of the achievement of black people in all industries. All avenues, all walks of life, right? Yeah, I’m noble enough to really show appreciation and recognize all the people who paved the way for me to have the opportunity to stand [in this ring] right here, right now and talk to you [Tony Schiavone.]
“People you may know, such as a Ron Simmons. How about I shout out my friends who made Black history, you know, like a Kofi Kingston? What up Kof! And how about we keep it in house a little bit? We talk about some of the people that’s been one of the best wrestlers on the planet? Holding down a brand, for well over a year now, whoopin’ ass! I’m talking about the Ring of Honor Women’s [World] Champion Athena. What up sis?”
At Final Battle on Friday, Athena retained her ROH Women’s Championship. She is 44-0 in ROH-sanctioned singles matches and just surpassed one year as champion a few days earlier. She is the longest reigning women’s champion in ROH history.
Athena is the anchor and the star of ROH. The women’s division revolves around her and the champ says Honor Club is her show. With no signs of stepping off the gas any time soon, what’s next for “The Fallen Goddess”?
On a recent episode of Under the Ring, Athena answered that very question. She trained all over the US and Mexico, which helped her to be versatile. When talking about the relationship between AEW and Japanese companies, Athena asks, “who wouldn’t want to wrestle more universally known talent?”
The #ForeverChampion reveals some women she’d like to get in the ring with. “Like Giulia from STARDOM. Mercedes Moné, Trinity. There’s so many beautiful, talented women out there that I’ve been dying to get my hands on. Including women that work in the company now, like Jamie Hayter. It’s really cool what AEW and ROH has done bringing in some of that outside talent.”
“Next on the list is going to Japan to wrestle because I’ve never gotten to do that. But with all of the Japanese superstars, with RIHO coming back and just a plethora of them dying to come over here, the opportunity is always there for those crazy dream matches.”
During Athena’s current run, she has faced Yuka Sakazaki, Miyu Yamashita, and Emi Sakura.
Posted December 16th, 2023 in News, ROH. Tagged: Athena.
This Friday, Athena will defend her Ring of Honor Women’s Championship against her former minion, Billie Starkz, in the main event of ROH Final Battle. The title match came forth after Starkz turned on Athena, who had previously served as her mentor throughout her training at MIT (Minion In Training).
After months of intense training, Starkz and fellow MIT student Lexy Nair recently geared up for their 2023 MIT graduation ceremony, where the valedictorian would receive a graduation certificate and an official “Athena’s Minion” t-shirt. Much to the surprise of the crowd, and Billie Starkz, Lexy Nair was bestowed the title of valedictorian. In response, Starkz sent her long-time ally crashing into the barricade alongside the entrance ramp. Now, Starkz will challenge Athena for the ROH Women’s Championship at Final Battle in Garland, TX.
During an interview with Under The Ring, Athena laid her thoughts on Starkz’ vibrant betrayal, and their upcoming title match.
“Chaos has ensued,” Athena said. “I feel like I’ve given Billie the world, and she’s just not grateful. She’s that rebellious teenager that doesn’t understand this is how real life works. She’s still in that, ‘Hey, I’m an adult. It’s sunshine, rainbows, happiness,’ that type of thing. And I’m sitting here like, ‘No, this is the real world. This is how this happens.’ She has turned on me and going into Final Battle in my hometown, it’s not about me reclaiming my championship, it’s about me teaching Billie a lesson that she rightfully deserves.”
Briefly putting their feud aside, Athena recognizes that Starkz, who is currently 19 years old, is one of the hottest young talents within the entire wrestling landscape right now. However, Athena asserts that she was an even better performer at that age.
“It’s crazy when you look at everything that she’s done, making list after list after list, not just for the women, but for the men when it comes to PWI. She’s probably one of the hottest young talent around the world right now. Everyone is looking at what Billy Starkz is going to do next, so I can’t discredit any of that. But I actually know exactly who I’m dealing with. As someone that has started when they were 18 years old, fresh out of high school, in college, I have done this entire thing that Billie has done. Billie thinks that she is unique. She thinks she is special. No, plenty of us have done this journey. I just did it better,” Athena said.
Other announced matches for the ROH Final Battle card include Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page in an I Quit Match and The Blackpool Combat Club vs. FTR & Mark Briscoe.
Posted December 14th, 2023 in News, ROH. Tagged: Athena.
Prior to joining All Elite Wrestling in 2022, Ring of Honor Women’s World champion Athena spent six years with WWE. As Ember Moon, she held the NXT Women title as well as the brand’s tag titles, alongside Shotzi Blackheart.
Despite her WWE run coming to an end in late-2021, Athena maintains an overall positive outlook on her experience there, particularly with the atmosphere in NXT.
Athena spoke with Phil Strum for Under The Ring and explained how working for WWE helped her develop as a performer.
Athena Says NXT was like going to Pro Wrestling University
Athena individually thanked several of the coaches she worked with in NXT, including Sara Amato, Robbie Brookside, Norman Smiiley, Matt Bloom, Fitt Finaly, Shawn Michaels, as well as Triple H.
“I learned a lot about myself,” she began. “I learned a lot about what I wanted, and where I wanted to be in my career. I think the most awesome part about being an NXT was working with [Triple H] or with working with all the amazing coaches like Sara Amato, Robbie Brookside, who I love to death. I cannot say enough great things about Robbie Brookside. [He] brought out that aggression within the Ember Moon character. Norman Smiley, Matt Bloom, Fit Finlay — there were just so much knowledge in one place in. Shawn Michaels too, Scotty 2 Hotty was there.
“There was just so much knowledge wrapped up in one place, that it was like a college for wrestling. I don’t know if that’s an accurate term, it was like Pro Wrestling University. It was really cool to jus be able to go there and just learn so much.”
Athena says she still speaks to many of her NXT coaches to this day. She asks them if they watch her matches in ROH and tries to pick up any pointers that she can.
“It’s just really cool to have that support still, even though I’m not there. I just learned a lot about myself and what I wanted out of my career there. I learned how to work for television, how to work for myself. It made me more motivated ever than before, just to be good at what I do. And I think that’s the beauty of that place.”
Listen to Athena’s appearance on Under the Ring at Apple Podcasts.
Athena has established herself as a dominant force within the Ring of Honor women’s division, recently surpassing one year as ROH Women’s Champion. As she looks to continue her reign, though, Athena has some other goals she’d like to accomplish outside of the ROH brand.
During an interview with Under The Ring, “The Fallen Goddess” discussed her potential next moves, which includes a possible return to AEW programming.
While Athena’s initial AEW run did not go entirely as she had hoped, she is confident that this go-around would produce a more successful outcome.
Athena Puts AEW’s Champions on Notice
Athena ready to take on AEW’s Champions
With an AEW return in her vision, Athena issued a warning to two of the company’s current champions — Julia Hart and Toni Storm.
“I think the next step for me would definitely be to take a crack at AEW TV again,” she began. “My first time around was not great, and I lost to the all-powerful Jade Cargill. I think now with me being the forever ROH Women’s Champion, I want to be a Triple Crown Champion by the end of 2024. I’m going after all of the belts, the TBS Champion Julia Hart, The AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm,”
She continued, “I’m not content with just beating up these fragile broads left and right. This is your warning, I am coming for you guys in 2024. It doesn’t matter what anyone says. You got an X on your back, and it’s only a matter of time before we get there.”
Since the dissolution of AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation earlier this year, Athena has been primarily focused on boosting the ROH brand, where she now resides as a regular fixture. Later this week, Athena will defend her ROH Women’s Championship against her former Minion, Billie Starkz, in the main event of ROH Final Battle.
Should Athena retain her title at Final Battle, it appears that Athena will then begin her mission of capturing the TBS Championship and AEW Women’s Championship.
Posted December 11th, 2023 in AEW, News. Tagged: Athena.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena posted on Twitter that she had sustained a broken nose. That was cause for alarm, but she stated that she would still be participating in next week’s Ring of Honor Final Battle pay-per-view.
Later on, Athena removed the tweet, but PW Insider reported confirming the authenticity of the injury. The current ROH Women’s Champion is injured, but that won’t keep her from wrestling.
It seems that Athena incurred the injury during last week’s Collision and Ring of Honor taping in Montreal. She will be featured on the upcoming ROH episode on their streaming platform. While engaged in a scuffle with Billie Starkz, it is believed that Athena suffered the broken nose, possibly from being thrown into a guardrail or a ring post.
Athena’s deleted tweet mentioned that she had just received X-ray results confirming the broken nose. It appears that she will still wrestle Billie Starkz at Final Battle despite that setback.
We’re hoping that Athena has a speedy recovery, and it doesn’t cause too many issues for her upcoming match. You can check out the card for ROH Final Battle below.
ROH Final Battle 2023 Card:
The following matches are set for ROH Final Battle 2023, which takes place Friday, December 15 from Garland, TX at the Curtis Culwell Center:
ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena vs. Billie Starkz
ROH World Television Championship Survival Of The Fittest Match: Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty vs. TBD*
I Quit Match: Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page
Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson & TBD vs. FTR & Mark Briscoe
Last Saturday, Athena defeated Mercedes Martinez for the ROH Women’s Championship at Final Battle. The hard-hitting affair fits with the new version of Athena that fans have seen the last few months.
The ROH Women’s Championship is the second title Athena has held since being released from WWE. She is currently the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion. In WWE as Ember Moon, she was the NXT Women’s Champion and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion with Shotzi Blackheart.
Athena to Defend ROH Championship
It was announced today that Athena will defend her ROH Championship against Miyu Yamashita. The match is for Prestige Wrestling at their Vendetta show on Saturday, January 21. The show will be live-streamed on IWTV at 7 PM PST.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
ATHENA will defend the RING OF HONOR Women’s Championship on 1/21 against MIYU YAMASHITA!
Yamashita is currently signed to TJPW. She is a three-time Princess of Princess Champion and current Pro Wrestling EVE champion. She was ranked #12 on PWI’s Women 150 this year. Yamashita faced Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women’s Championship in July.
Athena has had a major character shift in All Elite Wrestling as of late and completely dominated Dani Mo on this past Friday’s episode of Rampage.
Athena was known as Ember Moon in WWE. She spent six years with the promotion before being released on November 4th, 2021. Athena debuted in All Elite Wrestling at Double or Nothing 2022 following Jade Cargill’s match.
The Fallen Goddess recently got very aggressive in a match against Jody Threat on AEW Dark: Elevation and some fans thought she went too far. She has used the negative reaction to the match to inject a new attitude into her character and it has paid off on screen.
Athena will challenge Mercedes Martinez for the ROH Women’s Championship at Final Battle this Saturday at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Athena appeared on Busted Open Radio and explained her character change. The 34-year-old revealed that she worked her entire indie career as a “bad guy” and was fearful of getting lost in the shuffle in All Elite Wrestling.
Cause I feel like it. Sometimes, nice guys finish last.
Sometimes, you just get frustrated and it’s really hard because you’re trying to find an opportunity to not get lost in the shuffle because at AEW, there are so many talented women just across the board and it’s like, ‘What can you do to stand out?’
You’re asking your questions like, ‘Why am I stuck in this position? Why is this happening to me? Am I not good?’ Finally, you have to just say ‘eff it.
AEW felt the need to check that both Athena and Jody Threat were okay after their hard-hitting match on Dark: Elevation.
The match, which aired this week, saw Athena portray the heel role while Threat was the babyface in her hometown of Toronto, Canada.
The match has become notable for the stiff, hard-hitting strikes which have led some to believe that there are genuine issues between the two.
Backstage
Athena got the win in the hard-hitting match, but a lot took place backstage after the match.
Fightful Select reports that during a planned spot in the match, Threat slipped while attempting a comeback sequence.
Threat, thrown off by the error, asked Athena what was the next spot and the two got more physical afterward.
A source who spoke to Fightful said that the aggressiveness shouldn’t have happened and things should’ve instead been made more clear.
Another source criticized Athena, the veteran in the match, saying she should have led by example rather than let the match get more physical than planned.
Both women were reportedly approached by management after the match to make sure things were okay between them.
Some close to Athena added that this hard-hitting style was always her plan to play up her heel role in front of Threat’s hometown crowd.
Avoiding Drama
This match has quickly become what many fans know Jody Threat for, but she hopes that isn’t the case for long.
Fightful’s report adds that there have been no reports so far on heat for either woman.
Threat is described as someone who attempts to avoid attention and doesn’t like to get involved in wrestling politics.
She is reportedly hopeful that this is not a career-defining match.
Athena, formerly known as Ember Moon, spent six years in WWE, where she now says she was forced to limit her moveset.
Athena’s AEW Career
Athena made her AEW debut at AEW Double or Nothing following Jade Cargill’s TBS Title defense against Anna Jay. Since then, she has had four matches and currently has a 3-1 record within the company.
Athena received her first loss in AEW this past week on AEW Dynamite. However, due to her feud with Jade Cargill, it is more than likely that Athena will become ranked and will challenge Jade for the TBS Championship.
In recent weeks, Athena has been partnering with Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander to take on Jade and The Baddies. Athena recently teamed with Willow Nightingale on the July 20 episode of Dynamite to take on Jade Cargill and Keira Hogan.
Athena’s Time In WWE
During her time in WWE, Athena, then Ember Moon, was known for being a high-flyer. Athena now says that this is due to her height and the restrictions that were placed on her because of how short she was.
Athena was in WWE from 2015–2021. She spent 2015–2018 in NXT. Athena was on the main roster from 2018-2020, but she then returned to NXT in 2020 until she was released in 2021.
She was released from WWE on November 4, 2021 alongside Keith Lee, Karrion Kross (Killer Kross), Mia Yim, Franky Monet (Taya Valkyrie), and many others.
“So I feel like, like I said, I’m 5’1. In a former life, I was 5’1. And I was required to be 5’1 is in like, I had to be a high flyer and jump around and do things. And I like doing that stuff, right? I’m not I’m not knocking any shade.
“That’s just the small window of what I’ve given. And I took advantage of it to the nines. And like that’s, that was the challenge given to me. You are a high flyer go out in high fly and do your thing woman, right? Because I’m short, right? I get it right. But before I got there, I was a technician, I was a powerhouse.
“I didn’t do any of the high-flying stuff. You know, I learned that to get a job because I saw that no one else was doing that at the time. Now everyone can do everything.
“That’s amazing, but that’s that was when I got signed. That was the role I was given. And I was like, ‘Ah, this is just kind of like ugh.'”
Athena on being limited in WWE
Expanding Possibilities Through An Unfiltered Moveset
“But having an unfiltered moveset, not having to worry about so much of who does what but what works for your match and your story within the match. Like, there’s so much more entertainment value to that to me.
“And a lot of that is like one of my favorite things I saw as a kid because I feel like I have to say this because then you’ll understand where my mindset is. Hurricane versus The Rock.
“Mind you didn’t realize hurricane was like six foot something till I met him in person but still, like Hurricane versus a rock? How many times? Did he tease that chokeslam? How many times? Chokeslam? No, no one’s taken the chokeslam.
“And then he finally gets to that championship match with The Rock on SmackDown. And he hits him with the choke slam boom. The crowd loses their crap because for six months, he’s been teasing this chokeslam, The Rock finally takes it that place explodes and everyone thought he was gonna win the match.
“Like that’s the type of like, I don’t want to be limited by the way I look. Right?
Athena Wants To Do What The Guys Can But Better
“But like, I just I want that excitement back. And I feel like that’s just me as a performer. That doesn’t apply to everyone. Some people are comfortable doing what they know.
“And that’s absolutely fine. But I want to push the limits. When I first signed, it’s because I wanted to change the world of women’s wrestling. I’m not a porcelain princess. And I want people to know that like, I am a warrior to and through.
“And I just want people to know that like whatever the guys can do. I can do it. And I’m going to try to do it better than them. And that’s what my whole life in this pro wrestling world has been is.
“I want people to see me as a performer, not a great women’s wrestler, a great wrestler, great performer, and I want them to look at me and say, oh my god, Athena is one of the best in the world.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s a man doesn’t matter if she’s a woman, she can do her job and she does it well.”
Watch Rick Ucchino’s interview with Athena:
Posted July 24th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: Athena.
Athena reflected on her feud with Jade Cargill, how it began, and some new details around it.
Athena & Jade Cargill’s History
Back in March of 2022, Athena and Jade Cargill teased a match between the two through a fiery Twitter exchange. It now appears that this exchange happened before Athena’s AEW plans were set in stone.
This exchange was a catalyst for Athena’s first feud in AEW against Jade Cargill and The Baddies. Athena made her AEW debut at AEW Double or Nothing following Jade’s TBS Title defense against Anna Jay. Since then, the two have been in a deep rivalry.
In recent weeks, Athena has been partnering with Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander to take on Jade and The Baddies. Athena recently teamed with Willow Nightingale on the July 20 episode of Dynamite to take on Jade Cargill and Keira Hogan.
“Well, yeah, for sure. But I look at this as an opportunity to kind of go into something massive to show people not only what I can do as a high flyer, a technician a strong man at times. And I look at like the collaborative effort that could be there. Right? Jade Cargill is a megastar. You just look at this woman, and you see her on the TV, and you’re like, ‘Hold on, let me flip back a couple more channels. What was- what was this Amazon woman I just saw right here?’ And she looks great doing it. And she owns that persona, which is even more fantastic. Because she has a character. Right? A lot of women they’re like, Oh, I’m the good girl. I’m the bad girl. Right? I’m all attitude. I am. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be a good guy different. So that dies. I just gotta say what I say do what I do, and just kind of wait people like me. It’s weird. But when you look at someone like Jade Cargill, it’s just like, ‘Oh, that’s a challenge.’ That’s something I need in my life, right?,” Athena said
How Their Feud Began
The 15-year veteran continued, “And it started on Twitter. Before I even like, before we even got into the final talks of me coming officially to AEW. And it was just like, ‘Ou, there’s something here.’ And like, just me going, ‘Hmm?’ With a little face responding to who’s next just went viral and then she responded. Then I responded. And it just blew out of the water. So it kind of started on Twitter. So thank you blue bird, you did the swimming. But like I think people were so interested in that feud.
And they’re like, ‘Oh, when is this happening?’ Then the Joker thing happened and I kind of I already knew I was going when the Joker happened. So, me and my husband we got on free. We’re like, ‘This is pretape.’ because we knew that weekend I was going. So, we’re like, ‘Oh no, still in Texas.'”
How Much The Feud Means To Athena
And so it was it was just really cool to just be able to go into a main feud right away because I feel like it’s been so long since one I got a singles run. Like not like a singles run, like when the other undefeated streak was alive. Telling stories are so important to what we do in pro wrestling, right, because that’s what gets people invested and coming into this story with Jade Cargill. Like, that means a lot to me.
Athena: I’m Gonna Knock Her Flat On Her Ass
So I want to put all of my effort, all of my emotion, all of my physical well-being into this, to make it good to make people relate to, ‘Hey, like, I’m 5’1. I don’t care that she’s six foot.’ Whatever, like, I don’t care, I’m gonna knock her flat on her ass. That’s what I do. You know. And like, the one thing that has stayed true throughout my entire career is that, like, if there’s a challenge there, it doesn’t matter how many times I get knocked down, I’m going to beat that challenge. And I don’t think people really know that about me as a person. Like, I’ve had so many tryouts in the former life. That like, I was like, ‘Nah, I’m kicking this door down, baby. We’re gonna get there, right? We’re gonna get there and though.’ I finally got there, so like, that’s just the type of person I am.
Maybe it’s because I’m a massive gamer, that I will sit here and rage play every game until I till I have a mental breakdown. But like, that’s me. It’s like, I’m going to beat the big monster. I’m going to beat the big bad at the end of the adventure. I like to win. That’s what I do. You know? And it’s just like an alpha mentality of just like, I gotta be the best. I’m gonna beat the best to be the best. You gotta beat this Hussy here. I’m gotta say the (unintelligible) because I don’t want someone to come after me with DNCAs and all that stuff.
Athena Imagines Epic Battle With Jade
But you guys get what I’m saying is that like, this person who has made a career out of nothing in the pro wrestling world, because she was very accomplishable before she got here. Out of nothing in the pro wrestling world, who is at the top of the mountain right now. And I’m like, ‘I want to kick her off this mountain.’ Even then, even if I don’t kick her off the mountain because we all know it’s pro wrestling, right? Like, I want people to remember what I did at the top of that mountain that we had this epic battle on top of Olympus and lightning was striking and angels were weeping and fire from Hell was blazing up and I want it to be that I want to do this epic, like rock battle, if you will.”
Athena’s AEW Record
Athena received her first loss in AEW this past week on AEW Dynamite. Her current AEW 2022 record is 3-1 and she is not yet ranked. However, due to this feud, it is more than likely that Athena will become ranked and will challenge Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship.
AEW star Kris Statlander spoke with SEScoops correspondent Jaychele Nicole this week.
Since AEW Double Or Nothing, we have seen Statlander pair up with Athena and sometimes other women in the division to take on Jade Cargill and The Baddies. Kris Statlander has long been a crowd favorite. Particularly in her Owen Hart Tournament match with Ruby Soho, Statlander was able to turn the crowd around and gain overwhelming support during the match.
Kris Statlander’s Feud With Red Velvet
Kris has been in a feud with Red Velvet who she has a long history with. Prior to Kris’ recent character change, she teamed with Red Velvet and Leyla Hirsch a few times. Leyla would eventually turn on Kris and Velvet, which led to Statlander’s character change. When Hikaru Shida needed to be replaced in the Women’s Owen Hart tournament, Statlander took her place and defeated Red Velvet to advance. They also faced off on the June 10 edition of AEW Rampage where Statlander once again defeated Velvet.
Kris Statlander commented on the possibility of her feud with Red Velvet continuing despite the history of their friendship.
Stalander said, “Uh, it might. If it is, I am not complaining because she’s small and she’s very easy to throw. And you know, when we were friends I loved her to death and you know, everyone goes their separate ways sometimes friends don’t last forever, unfortunately. But I don’t mind if she’s someone that I have to see all the time.”
Statlander On Slapping The Back Of Stokely Hathaway’s Head
Statlander recently slapped Jade Cargill’s publicist Stokely Hathaway on the June 17 edition of Rampage. Following Willow Nightingale’s match with Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship, Kris Statlander came out to help rescue Willow and Athena from the beatdown that they were receiving from Jade and The Baddies (Kiera Hogan and Red Velvet). While running down to the ring, Statlander slapped Stokely on the back of the head before getting into the ring.
Kris Statlander slapping the shit out of Stokely Hathaway on her way down to the ring was fucking hilarious hahahah #AEWRampagepic.twitter.com/KrZ8z63uis
Statlander had the following to say about slapping Stokely, “I mean, I saw him as I was getting ready to run out. I saw him walking down there. And I was like, ‘Oh, he deserves it because he’s annoying that he had it coming.’ So, I guess you can say, sort of planned it as in like, we all want to. But, just when the opportunity arrives. Oh, it was gonna happen for sure.”
Statlander On Working With Willow Nightingale
Statlander and Athena said on the June 22 that they had Willow Nightingale in their corner when taking on Jade and The Baddies. Willow has been a big crowd favorite and has received great reactions during her AEW appearances. Willow took on Mercedes Martinez at ROH Supercard of Honor for the Interim ROH Women’s Championship back in April. Since they, Willow has been fighting off Jade and The Baddies.
Statlander spoke about the possibility of Willow joining her and Athena and Willow being on TV more.
“I hope so considering that we said that we had her on our side. So, it’d be great if she were able to join us. So yeah, I really hope that you know if there ever comes a time to do maybe we gotta take down Jade and The Baddies all together as a group. I do hope that she’s one that’s on our side. She’s someone that I’ve known for a very long time, way before AEW, so I love working with her,” Statlander commented.
The Possibility Of Kris Statlander Vs Jade Cargill
Kris Statlander vs Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship is a match that has been long hyped up. Many believe that Kris Statlander may be the first person to defeat Jade Cargill, and that she will be the one to take the belt away from Jade. Especially during her recent feud with Jade and The Baddies, many believes that the booking around the TBS Championship may be working towards having Kris finally challenge Jade. These two have never faced each other one on one.
When asked about the possibility of facing Jade and what fans could expect from the match, Kris said, “I’m gonna say you’re gonna see Jade’s toughest challenge ever. Yet. Ever, maybe, we’ll see. But um, I appreciate everyone that’s supporting the idea of me being the first one to beat her. That would be really cool, but we gotta get the match booked first. So don’t don’t get your hopes up until we see that graphic. Okay. That’s all I’m gonna say is, if it happens, it happens if it doesn’t. Don’t get your panties in a twist over it. Life goes on. I’ll get something one day, maybe one day will be my time to shine, but if not.”
If you use the quotes above, please credit the original course with a h/t and link back to SEScoops for the transcription.
AEW star Athena recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about what it is like working for Tony Khan vs Vince McMahon.
“Tony is extremely busy, but my interactions with him have been insanely different than that of my former boss,” Athena said. “Because he’s just excited, he’s pumped, he wants to get everyone pumped up as he is. It’s the first time I think I had a show … He’s just going up to every match like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s get this!’ I’ve never had that. And it’s just energy on cloud nine, every step of the way. Sometimes, the couple of days I’ve been there, we’re there for like fourteen hours and his energy doesn’t drop. He’s so motivating, he’s so pumped about everything that’s on the TV product, which I’m not used to on any level.
“Normally it’s like, ‘Alright. Go out there, blah, blah, blah. Cool, you know what you’re doing.’ And then on the other end, you’re getting Tony like, ‘You pumped for this?! You ready to go?!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah! Let’s go!’ I don’t know how to explain it. He’s so high energy and so positive that you just want to feed off that aura. I’m like, ‘I want that caffeine level that you’re at, but I’m afraid I might have a heart attack!’
For fourteen hours, there’s not a drop. Not a drop. And he’s extremely appreciative that everyone is there. I don’t know how to explain it, but so far, I’m just like, amazed. I could people watch Tony all day long because you want to go so much harder for him, out in the ring and stuff. You’re like, ‘Yeah! He’s pumped! He loves it! Yeah!’”
“I think the best way to describe it is I think the former place, if you will, demanded perfection,” Athena said. “It didn’t matter what curveballs were being thrown at you, there was just very stoic energy of, ‘Alright, this is what we expect out of you. Do it.’ And if you don’t do it, you get ripped a new one. Sometimes it’s like, ‘Okay, cool, we understand problems happen.’ But there was never that high energy.
Hunter was the exception to that, I will say that. But coming into AEW, you get pumped, you get excited. Every match, he (Tony) is there. He’s in the huddle with everyone. I’m like, ‘Where did you come from?’ I feel like he’s just teleporting backstage; I’ll leave one area and see him talking here, but in some kind of way, he’s doubled in front of me. I’m like, ‘How? You were…’
“He cares, and he shows outwardly that he cares. And it’s not demanding perfection, it’s like, ‘Hey, you go out there and do the best damn job. And if it’s perfect, I’m happy. If it’s not, I’m happy. I’m just excited that you’re here, willing to put your body on the line for this company.’ That’s the type of energy. So it’s like, ‘Alright, I’m going to go put my body on the line! Let’s go!’ The energy, the aura backstage, it’s so different, it’s so positive. Everyone wants to help each other, everyone is just excited to be there, right? Which is weird because I’m not used to that on any level. It’s so exciting.”
AEW star Athena recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about Athena’s love for wrestling being “sucked out” towards the end of her WWE run.
“I do… right so it became work and I think like a lot of people will hopefully understand what I mean by that like we have the craziest coolest job in the world where no day is the same when you walk in it’s constantly changing chaos you know and something about that drew me to it, but over the course of like six seven years with WWE it became work and it became okay what do we got to do okay and I wasn’t so much passionate as much as I was like wanting to do a good job if that makes sense and so when I like left it was like I got to sit at home for three months and just kind of figure out what I wanted to do and I didn’t necessarily know if I wanted to wrestle again it was just like ah okay because I was afraid that I would go like and it would feel like work and so like on some level yeah I feel like the passion was sucked out“
AEW star Athena recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about her road to becoming “all elite.”
“I feel like it was one of those things as soon as I got released [by WWE] or mutually parted ways, whichever way you wanna have it there, it was like, ‘Man, I don’t know how to get in contact with them, but I gotta get in contact with them,’ and I told my agent, I was like, ‘Hey, I’m really interested in going there. I really want to go there, you know.’ It’s kind of like a combination of, we reached out and they reached back, and it was like a six month ‘Are we interested?’
Are you interested, because I think when I left [WWE], I didn’t really know if I wanted to continue wrestling. I just knew that like, I loved and enjoyed watching the AEW product at home, watching the pay-per-views watching just everything. I’m like, ‘Oh, this looks like so much fun,’ and then I’d be like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’
So, I had a couple matches on the indies and just those blew up, and it just getting kept getting more and more attention. And I think like, we finally just kind of hit the double tap on the phone call and it was like, ‘Yeah, let’s let’s figure out something.'”
Preparing for Double or Nothing Debut
Athena also spoke about her AEW debut at last month’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
“I get in at like eight, nine o’clock in the morning, and I was like, you know what, I’m not gonna go to the baggage claim for my airline. I’m gonna go to the other one, right, and now I’m telling all my secrets, so now I get lost, I get very obviously lost and turned around because I’m terrible at navigating airports, and I end up in the big baggage claim and all I see is piles and piles of AEW fans like stalking out the baggage claims with their binoculars.
I’m 5’1″ so I can blend so I get in the biggest crowd that I possibly can and I get in the middle and I’m like head down like I have like my glasses on my mask on, I’m trying to hide.
So they put me at a different hotel that isn’t the TV hotel. I get there, my hotel has been given away, so I’m sitting in the lobby and I’m like, ‘Oh this is weird,’ and like the travel team was like, ‘Oh no, this is like, they tried to call, they tried it they were like, ‘Hey, we bought this room day before, blah blah blah, and they’re like, ‘Well, you should have called,’ and I’m sitting here like, ‘Oh no, uh, someone is going to notice me, because I was in that lobby for like an hour or two as we were trying to figure it out. I’m just head down, just like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the worst, you know, and eventually, they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re sending a car for, you we’re gonna put you up at the hotel where everyone else is at,’ and I’m like, ‘How is that going to work?'” because once again AEW fans, or just wrestling fans in general, are really good about ruining surprises for themselves.
‘So they take me through like the basement level and they put my room name under someone else, and we are like, ‘Aright, go up the elevator, you’re on this floor,’ and I get in the elevator and it stops on the lobby level, and three AEW fans get in like they had the Jericho Society shirts and I’m like, ‘How?’ and I’m just sitting, they’re just like, and I remember they went to turn and look at me, and I start coughing and they’re like, “Oh, oh, oh god, please don’t get that on me,’ and I was like so they totally know who I am.”
Check out Steve Fall’s exclusive interview with AEW star Athena:
Posted June 21st, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: Athena.
AEW star Athena recently spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston about the possibility of WWE’s Paige becoming All Elite.
“Absolutely! Like I tell people all the time it’s like everyone says the women’s evolution started with the Bellas, I highly disagree! Started with Paige and Emma!
“Started with them, that was the first like mainstream women’s match that got time that made people like want more and knowing that she’s capable of that not to mention seeing her story in the movie and I’ve wrestled her mom on the indies before and just got my ass handed to me excuse my language, but like of course like she’s someone I’ve always wanted to wrestle with. I actually rolled around with her when she was training to come back.
“She is an invaluable superstar in her own right. She is absolutely phenomenal whether she’s going to be a mouthpiece, whether she’s able to get back in the ring like any company would be like stupid not to try to snatch her up. I think her eventually returning to wrestling anywhere would be beneficial to whatever companies snatches her up, but I think AEW will be a smart move again because there’s something to be added to the women’s division”
Posted June 21st, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: Athena.
Athena has opened up as to why she wanted to make the move from WWE to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Speaking on the “Complex Unsanctioned” podcast, Athena said the more she kept seeing her friends from her indie days getting a platform on AEW pay-per-views (PPVs), the more she wanted to be a part of it.
“When you look at the AEW PPVs and you’re seeing all of my friends that I used to roll with on the indies and they’re finally getting the platform that they deserve and it’s just like, ‘Man, they look like they’re having so much fun and I gotta be a part of it,’ you know?”
“And it just kept setting in. It’s like the more time that went on there the more I was just looking at AEW, the more I was like longing to be at AEW.”
Athena signed with WWE in 2015, going by the name Ember Moon. She was a staple in the NXT women’s division, capturing the NXT Women’s Title at one point.
Moon got her call up to the main roster in 2018 after WrestleMania 34.
Unfortunately, her run on the main roster didn’t result in any meaningful push as a singles competitor, eventually landing her back in NXT in 2020.
She reigned as NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions with Shotzi Blackheart, but was released soon after their title reign ended, leaving the company in November of 2021.
After a brief run on the independent circuit, Athena made her AEW debut at the Double Or Nothing PPV. She won her debut match on the June 3 episode of Dynamite, defeating Kiera Hogan.
