ROH Women’s World Champion Athena spoke with PWInsider.com at the Queen of the Ring premiere on a number of topics, including becoming the longest-reigning champion in ROH history.
Athena said, “I remember sitting at home, and I try not to let things like that get to me. And I remember sitting at home, because we had pre-taped everything, and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, I think I’m going to beat Samoa Joe’s record.’”
On what beating Joe’s record means to her:
“Samoa Joe is someone I’ve idolized since I was on the indies—someone that we all look up to and aspire to be as wrestlers, especially with longevity and history-making performances. To be considered in the same breath as Samoa Joe when it comes to making history, it was very awesome… I think I had a shot of tequila, and me and my husband were like, ‘Wow, I really did something special.’ I really set a foundation for something, and it’s really cool.”
On looking ahead to what’s next:
“We revel in that moment for a second, but then it’s like, what’s next? What’s the next thing we can do? I felt the same way when I main-evented the first-ever pay-per-view in Ring of Honor as a woman with Willow Nightingale. I was like, ‘What’s next? What can we do more?’”
On Queen Of the Ring spotlighting Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson and Marva Scott:
“They built a foundation. I think their story has been very untold. If you know, you know, butI don’t think anything’s been told this in-depth. The general public—ah, wrestling fans! It’s a niche wrestling fan thing, right? If you’re super into women’s wrestling, you probably are like, ‘Oh my God, let me do all the digging, let me go back, let me see the black and white footage.’”
On her inspirations:
“I remember when I first started wrestling, one of my favorite matches was the Glamour Girls versus the Jumping Bomb Angels from WWF’s Royal Rumble ‘88, and I remember being like, ‘What?! Women were cooking like this in 1988, the year that I was born?!’… It’s amazing to see what the women did then, to Aja Kong, to Manami Toyota, to women all around the world, like Akio Hamada, like so many women around the world. And then just knowing that it went even further back than that—crazy.”
On performing in Japan for the first time:
“I loved it. I didn’t want to come back. No, Minion5508 said I had to come back. You gotta listen. Yeah, I gotta listen. But I had so much fun. It was a dream come true. I have to go back. I got to work with a lot of phenomenal women, especially Team H.A.T.E…and I hate to hate Team H.A.T.E. I was very exciting and I was very honored that STARDOM let me come and do a small tour there. I’m so thankful.”
On trying to do more for women’s wrestling:
“I’m always trying to figure out what is the next thing we can do. What’s gonna be the next biggest thing that’s gonna get people talking, get people energized about pro wrestling and what I do.”
