Tony Khan continues to do a disservice to ATHENA

Have you worshipped your forever champion today? If not, get to it because ATHENA deserves all the praise and adulation. As of the writing of this piece she has reached 600 days as Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion. A position that few expected to see and one that she’s worked hard to elevate the ROH women’s division along the way. Still, it is important to talk about how great her run continues to be while questioning how Tony Khan has leveraged her as a part of this roster.

On December 13, 2023, Daily DDT published a piece about Tony Khan doing a disservice to Athena with the lack of time she gets on television. At the time that piece was published, she had only four matches on television that year, several less than her peers holding men’s ROH titles. Since that day she’s only had one match on television, the April 13 match against Red Velvet at Battle of the Belts.

Yes, she was out for a bit due to injury, but she returned and got right back to work continuing her push to be the best women’s wrestler in the world. Daily DDT awarded her as the best women’s wrestler in 2023 and her momentum really hasn’t slowed since.

So why doesn’t she appear on AEW television more often? All the men’s champions continue to bounce back and forth. Lee Moriarty won the ROH Pure Title on July 26 and was wrestling on Collision the next day. Mark Briscoe successfully defended his title at Death Before Dishonor, then wrestled at Collision and AEW Dynamite the following days. The Undisputed Kingdom were also on Battle of the Belts, while Atlantis Jr. had obligations in other promotions.

An interesting note is that Red Velvet won the ROH Women’s World Television Title at Death Before Dishonor, but she along with Athena are the only ones to not have matches since the PPV.

Why is it that Athena can’t get television time? Some argue that she’s the face of Ring of Honor, so Khan keeps her on that show to draw attention there. There are other arguments that the roster is stacked and it would be difficult to take time away from others. Both excuses are just that, poor excuses.

It has been 600 days and Tony Khan still hasn’t used Athena on television. Even after he claims he wishes he could, almost like he forgets that he books the show. This happens while the men still get their time and matches on the main roster programs. It will be interesting to see if Red Velvet gets the same treatment because then it becomes an even more problematic conversation that needs to be discussed.

Don’t forget to pay respect to your “Forever Champion” in Athena. Tony Khan seems to continue to do just that.