ATHENA HAS DONE IT.
Now that Athena has made it to the 1,000 days as ROH Women’s Champion, she must not vacate it.
She will be the #ForeverChampion no matter how many days her actual reign lasts. Now that she has made it to this historic milestone, some may suggest that she simply vacate the title and commit to AEW full time. Following a successful defense against Thunder Rosa at “Supercard of Honor”, Athena stated she was officially part of both rosters. She wrestled several matches on AEW television and won the Women’s Casino Gauntlet match at ALL IN. That win meant she won a contract for a title shot for the Women’s Championship. She challenged “Timeless” Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Championship at “Forbidden Door”, but came up short.
She successfully defended her title against Mina Shirakawa at “Death Before Dishonor” in her fourth PPV main event. She reached a nice round number on Episode 132 of ROH TV when she defeated Dayami in a Proving Ground match. Win number 70 came in at just over two minutes.
During her title reign, Athena has beaten women like Willow Nightingale, Miyu Yamashita, Emi Sakura, Yuka Sakazaki, & Hikaru Shida. She had a Chicago Street Fight with Kiera Hogan. Following her win at "Death Before Dishonor", Athena was asked about facing "9 Belts Moné". She confidently replied that she was ready to face her again and could beat her. She admitted where she messed up against Moné, but wouldn't play it safe next time and would do whatever it takes to beat her. The following day, the "CEO" replied that the ROH Women's Championship is the one she really wants.
Moné will likely get titles 10 and 11 to surpass Ultimo Dragon. Two obvious titles would be the ROH and AEW Women's Championships. I am all for the Belt Collector breaking records and adding as many titles as possible. A small part of me wants her to defeat Athena for the title to add to her collection. However, having Athena lose to someone who has never set foot into an ROH ring doesn't sit right with me and I feel like it screws over all the women in the ROH division who have been there week in and week out. She would also likely never defend the title on ROH programming either (see Friedman, Maxwell Jacob).
When you’ve defeated everyone you’ve faced for the title & made more history, where do you go from here? What’s next? Vacating the title after nearly three years is not the answer. No one will ever be able to fill the shoes of the “American Joshi”. But beating her? That’s a damn good start. To be the one to end Athena’s reign is a huge step for that wrestler. It would hopefully set them up for immediate success and allow them to set the next tone for the title and the division.
ROH & the women’s division has been anchored by and centered around Athena. The division has not been built up to function without her. There is no clear answer on who should defeat her. Minion 400,237 3/4, Billie Starkz, makes the most sense. Perhaps the third time’s a charm & she can finally defeat her Minion Overlord. Being on AEW television & competing helps fans who don’t watch ROH get to know her. Right now, there is no clear path to reignite their feud.
Queen Aminata and Trish Adora have been two of my picks for a long time. Both are currently in the Women’s Pure title tournament. SYURI is Athena’s dream opponent & once she’s recovered from elbow surgery, the match will happen. Could she be the one to finally dethrone Athena?
Having a match and/or tournament for a vacated title is a lazy way out. I didn’t like it when Samoa Joe did it either. To have someone win a vacant title instead of defeating the most dominant champion in ROH history lacks prestige and feels cheap. Also, the same thing happened to Athena when she was in WWE. The former Ember Moon could never defeat Asuka. Asuka held the NXT Women’s Championship for 500 days & vacated the title upon going to the main roster. History should not repeat itself.
To own the women’s division, the next champion must do something no one else has done: beat Athena in an ROH-sanctioned singles match.