Athena, formerly known as Ember Moon, and Stokely Hathaway, formerly known as Malcolm Bivens, are now All Elite. 

The former WWE stars made their debut when AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill beat Anna Jay at the AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event. Stokely came out towards the end of the match and aligned with Jade. Following the match, Kris Statlander hit the ring to confront Jade.  Athena was in as well to confront Jade. 

AEW President Tony Khan made them signing official as he posted that they’re All Elite, a confirmation they’ve signed full-time deals with the promotion. 

Athena was among the names to be let go by WWE on November 4th. Her last match under the WWE banner was a loss to WWE NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose on the October 5th edition of NXT.

While with WWE, she was a one-time Women’s and one-time Tag Team Champion in NXT.

Hathaway came from EVOLVE before going to WWE where he was used as a manager, most notably for the Diamond Mine Faction. He was released one month ago.

Athena, formerly known as Ember Moon in WWE, isn’t limiting her options.

Back in Nov. 2021, Athena was released from her WWE contract. She was part of a wave of talent cuts that included Keith Lee, Nia Jax, Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, and more.

Now that a few months have passed, the former Ember Moon is free to sign with another promotion.

Athena Sends Messages To Promoters

If there’s one thing Athena wants to make clear, it’s that she isn’t opposed to truly testing the market.

She took to Virtual M&G/Asylum Wrestling Store and said she’s ready for the call from AEW, IMPACT, and Stardom (h/t DraVen).

“If I knew [I would be going to AEW], I wouldn’t tell you.

“If they came a ringing, if IMPACT came a ringing, heck, if STARDOM came a ringing, I would answer the phone and I would be there in a heartbeat.”

Current AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa expressed her desire in facing Athena back in 2021.

Earlier this year, Athena and reigning TBS Champion Jade Cargill traded barbs on social media, leading many to believe that eventually, the two would clash in the ring.

Wrestlecon held the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The event was a part of the FITE Fest bundle and WrestleCon SuperShow.

The main event saw the Briscoes vs. The Rottweilers(Homicide & Low Ki). The Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow also had Mia Yim’s first match since WWE released her on Nov. 4, 2021. She competed against Athena, who also wrestled for WWE as Ember Moon. The event can be watched on FITE’s video on demand for $14.99, or wrestling fans could buy the FITE Fest Bundle/WrestleCon bundle for $74.99.

Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow Quick Results

1. Bandido defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey
2. Mia Yim defeated Athena
3. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Timothy Thatcher
4. Taya Valkyrie defeated Johnny WrestleCon in a Dirty Dishes Match
5. Michael Oku, Rey Horus & Laredo Kid defeated Josh Alexander, Ace Austin & Black Taurus
6. Minoru Suzuki defeated Biff Busick
7. Team Onita(Atsushi Onita, The Rock N Roll Express, Juice Robinson & Colt Cabana) defeated Team PCO(PCO, NZO, Jimmy Wang Yang, Barry Horowitz & Dirty Dango)
8. The Briscoes defeated The Rottweilers(Homicide & Low Ki)

Overall Thoughts on Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow

The Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow delivered a great wrestling show. The event did have some audio issues and spoiled a surprise appearance by Bret Hart at the start of the show. In the main event, Homicide and Low Ki confronted a fan for being disrespectful. The incident went on for almost 5 minutes before the match started. However, it may not hurt a fan’s overall enjoyment of the event.

Bandido vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey set the tone for the event and could be considered the best match on the card. However, the rest of the card also delivered exciting and fun matches. Yim looked in great shape and seemed happy to be wrestling again in her return. The show may be worth watching for $14.99 on VOD for fans who didn’t see the event live.

Tony Khan is once again teasing the debut of a new female talent for the Owen Hart Cup Tournament qualifier on Dynamite this Wednesday.

The tease has fired up the rumor mill once again with people wondering if we could see another former WWE talent showing up in the rival promotion.

Fightful recently provided some update on potential names that could sign with the company. AEW talent believes Toni Storm will be joining the roster sooner than later.

There have been ‘at least light talks and gauging interest’ between the AEW officials and Ember Moon.

The former NXT women’s champion who now goes by the name Athena has apparently been very selective about her indie bookings since her release in November last year.

One name that doesn’t seem very likely to join AEW in the immediate future is Tegan Nox. She has been dealing with visa issues since her own WWE release in the same month as Athena.

• Tony Khan Makes A Promise To AEW Fans Regarding Owen Hart Cup

While she could still show up in Tony Khan’s promotion at some point, the star now going by the name Nixon Newell was ‘very busy’ trying to sort out the situation as of a couple of weeks ago.

Which star would you like to see debut in AEW this Wednesday against The Bunny? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Former WWE Superstar Athena (Ember Moon) will challenge for championship gold in her first match since leaving WWE.

Athena’s return match will take place next Saturday, February 12th for Warrior Wrestling. She’ll challenge Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa at Warrior Wrestling 19 from Cicero Stadium outside Chicago, IL.

Thunder Rosa recently issued an open challenge to determine her next opponent. Now that she is a free agent, Athena stepped up.

Warrior Wrestling released the following promo hyping this contest:

Athena wrote on Twitter, “We back baybeee and we are gonna take titles!”

She also revealed her new theme song will be “Athena” by the band Plush.

Earlier this week, Athena held a stream on Twitch where she spoke about her WWE run. Despite being underutilized on the main roster, she said she’s grateful for the opportunities WWE gave her and feels bad for the other developmental talent who did not get the same breaks that she did.

You can check out her comments at the link below:

Former WWE Superstar Athena (Ember Moon) is speaking out about her time with the company.

Athena departed WWE on November 4th, 2021. 90+ days later, she is now a free agent and able to work for other promotions.

On Wednesday, she held a live stream on Twitch and said she harbors no bad feelings against the company. She is grateful for the opportunities WWE afforded her and believes the positives outweigh the negatives.

“Without WWE, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” she said. “I got to travel the world, meet amazing people and make amazing friends that are going to be with me for a lifetime. At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s all bad.”

Athena Grateful for Opportunity

Athena says many of the people she worked and trained with did not get the opportunities that she did.

She held the NXT Women’s Championship (2017) and competed on the main roster. She still had a lot left to accomplish in WWE, but the Performance Center and NXT are full of talent who never get a chance in the spotlight.

“That’s part of the reason why I feel like it’s not fair for me to come on here and b*tch and moan and whine, she said. “It’s not fair.”

Several other former WWE Superstars became free agents this week, including Keith Lee and Karrion Kross. Check out the articles below to see their latest comments since the expiration of their non-compete clauses.

H/T to Fightful for the transcribed quotes