Athena on ROH 91 ahead of her match with Leila Grey Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Jim Ross Gives AEW Star Athena Her Flowers

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI
By Ethan Schlabaugh | Last updated Jul 29, 2025 1:20 PM ET

Ever since arriving to All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, Athena has been dominating the ROH division, reigning as the ROH Women's World Champion for over 960 days.

The weekend of All In Texas would see Athena defend her ROH Women's World title against Thunder Rosa at Supercard of Honor. The following night, she would succeed in the Women's Casino Gauntlet, earning a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship.

And on Jim Ross' Grilling J.R. podcast, he had some incredible praise directed toward Athena for her work in helping All In Texas be a success.

That just proves to you that sometimes you just don’t know until you do it, and Athena got over. She made sure she got herself over, she worked hard. ...She works hard, does a hell of a job, and she was a big addition to — she was one of the main reasons that All In Texas was such a success. Jim Ross

Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

Ross continued:

Players like her that had the opportunity to perform at a top level, and she did. It’s impressive as hell quite frankly so, but Athena, we might not be talking about Athena a lot, but she deserves any flowers as they say, that one could receive. She’s just doing a great job.Jim Ross [h/t Fightful]

Athena and "Timeless" Toni Storm have had multiple segments on Dynamite and Collision, with Athena teasing the idea of her cashing in her title match against Storm.

Athena's reign as ROH Women's World Champion is nearing the 1000-day mark, something that no other Ring of Honor champion has done in the near three decades Ring of Honor has been around. Athena broke the record for longest reign when she surpassed Samoa Joe and his 645 days with the ROH World Championship.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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