Athena Went Back & Forth With AEW For Six Months Before Signing

Athena made a big splash in AEW when she debuted at May’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. The former Ember Moon had been re-establishing herself with a series of highly regarded independent matches before finally settling in with Tony Khan’s group. After she was released by WWE, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to continue wrestling, but she knew she liked what she saw from WWE’s top competitor.

Since showing up in AEW, Athena has been involved in a feud with TBS Champion Jade Cargill and The Baddies. It’s a big spot, as AEW has pushed Jade Cargill as an unstoppable force within the women’s division. Athena said despite it being a good fit, her jump to AEW didn’t happen overnight.

Speaking with NBC Sports Boston, Athena said there was a lot of back and forth in the six months after her WWE release. As she began to blow up on the independent circuit, she knew something special was happening in AEW. Eventually, both parties connected and got a deal done.

“It was like a six-month, ‘Ah, are we interested? Are you interested?’ Because I think, when I left, I didn’t know if I wanted to continue wrestling, I just knew that I loved watching the AEW product at home…

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I had a couple matches on the indies and those blew up – Shane Strickland, Taya Valkyrie, Mia Yim, and it just kept getting more and more traction. I think like, we finally just kind of hit the double tap on the phone call and it was like, ‘Yeah, let’s figure out something. Let’s do this.’”

Many fans thought it was only a matter of time before Athena joined AEW after her November 2021 release from WWE. It took a little longer than that. Now, the Fallen Goddess has her sights set on gold.

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H/T Wrestling Inc.