Throughout the month of February, Diva Dirt will spotlight one (or more) Black women’s wrestler a day. This won’t be a countdown, but just a way to shine light on the past and present Black women of the industry. With that said, these daily articles will not be in any particular order.
Representation matters to marginalized groups, and here at Diva Dirt we focus on giving those individuals the recognition they deserve.
February 20 is going to go to a certified veteran of the craft, Athena.
At just 37 years of age, Athena has almost a 20 year career under her belt. She first debuted in 2007 in her home state of Texas. Being from Texas also, Athena has credited Jacqueline as a huge inspiration to her. She’s also given credit to Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, and Beth Phoenix.
Athena worked the indie scene in Texas while being trained by Booker T. Known to us now as Reality of Wrestling (ROW), Athena first got her start at Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA). She also worked for Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW) before finding herself in all-female promotions for a solid five years of her career such as SHIMMER and WSU.
Prior to joining WWE on its NXT brand as Ember Moon, Athena did a run with ROH. In NXT, she won the NXT Women’s Title and then the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles during her second run on the brand with Shotzi Blackheart. She had memorable feus wirh Asuka and Shayna Baszler. While on the main roster, Athena didn’t have the best go. She participated in big moments such as the first women’s Royal Rumble match along with the first Evolution event. An achilles injury took her out in 2019 for about a year. That is when she returned to NXT after she recovered.
Athena was released from WWE in 2021 during mass exits from the company. She has found herself a home in AEW since.
Under her AEW, Athena has spent half of her time in ROH. She is currently the ROH Women’s World Champion, a title she has held for over 3 years (nearly 1,200 days) after defeating Mercedes Martinez. She has successfully defended the title a total of 33 times.
In the past year she has been showcased a lot more on AEW going after the AEW Women’s Title against Toni Storm and battling the Babes of Wrath for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles alongside Mercedes Moné.
Athena is a queen of the craft and has proven time and time again how she is one of the best.