With an ROH Women's World Title reign spanning over 1,300 days so far, Athena has earned the nickname "Forever Champion." What exactly does "forever" mean to her, though?According to Athena, it's a way of life that promotes both positivity, motivation, and self-belief. "Like I said before, when I first won this title, I never thought that I would become a forever champion," she said on the ROH Death Before Dishonor post-show media scrum. "I really find that when I go home at night, try to stay humble, try to stay focused, try to stay disciplined, because we all like a little pasta sometimes, even though I'm highly allergic to milk. But in all seriousness, I never thought in a billion years I would have an opportunity to show myself on this type of platform, to have not only an amazing support team when it comes to our backstage staff, an amazing, breakable, fragile roster. They're fine, until they get to me and then they don't come back around, except for Billie [Starkz]."During her history-making reign, Athena has experienced many moments of triumph, such as her victory in the first-ever ROH Women's Survival of the Fittest match. On the opposite end, she's also endured physical damage, including a dislocated kneecap, severe ankle sprains, and a neck injury. Still, "The Fallen Goddess" pushed through it all to remain at the top of Ring of Honor, while also boosting the rising talents aspiring to be like her."Forever is not just a word. It is truly forever motivating, forever being determined, forever not bowing down to anyone that makes you feel less than. That's just me. I am forever me," she added.Along her winding path, Athena eclipsed the likes of Mercedes Martinez, Billie Starkz, and Harley Cameron. At ROH Death Before Dishonor on August 21, STARDOM's Hazuki stepped up to challenge for the title as well, but like the rest, she too fell short.
When she first arrived at All Elite Wrestling, ROH's sister promotion, in 2022, Athena recalled being immediately "humbled," despite her extensive background in wrestling and television. That's because the roster of women around Athena kept her in check."The women here were top tier. They're top talent. They made me change how I thought about myself and my growth within AEW," Athena said. "Then ROH popped up, I beat the crap out of Mercedes Martinez, and I became the forever champion. But when I won that title, I didn't think about anything other than me, because for so long, and even to this day, I consider myself a very selfless person."Looking to her future, Athena noted that she aims to transform her selfless nature into a more selfish one, first by establishing a bigger presence for herself on AEW programming. That includes seizing the opportunities she believes she's both earned and deserved. More specifically, she wants to hold AEW-branded gold."That's always been the goal, to be an AEW Women's Champion, to be an AEW TBS Champion, to be an AEW Tag Champion," she said. "To be the best in the world. I have to not only be the Forever ROH Champion, I have to wrestle in the company where the best wrestle day in day out, whether it be Dynamite, Collision, All in, Full Gear, any pay-per-view, anytime. I have been ready to take on that responsibility."Athena went on to make it clear that although she's wanting more success in AEW, she won't forget about ROH, that promotion in which she's already heavily tasted it. Come the right time and right moment, she insisted that she can actually take over both.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ROH with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
