AEW star forced to defend championship despite being legitimately injured
An injured AEW star is set to defend her championship in three weeks. That would be Athena, formerly known as Ember Moon.
The War Goddess signed with AEW in 2022 and was presented as a force of destruction. After establishing herself in the Jacksonville-based promotion, she was moved to Ring of Honor (ROH). She is currently the longest-reigning ROH Women's World Champion, which she captured in December 2022 after defeating Mercedes Martinez.
In May 2024, during the weekly ROH taping, Athena sustained a leg injury while facing Viva Van. Later, she announced that she would be out for nearly six months due to an ankle injury and would not be vacating her championship despite being sidelined. During a recent edition of ROH, the 35-year-old star revealed that she will be out for eight to twelve months, as she tore her ligament too.
Regardless of the former WWE Superstar being injured, she is scheduled to defend her title in three weeks. ROH recently announced on X/Twitter that The War Goddess will face Queen Aminata for the ROH Women's World Championship at Death Before Dishonor.
"With an injury still in question, the champion @AthenaPalmer_FG will defend her title against the challenger @amisylle!" ROH shared.
Check out the tweet below:
What plans does Tony Khan have for Athena remains to be seen.
Athena revealed she wants to hold multiple championships in AEW
Athena has been holding the ROH Women's World Championship for more than 567 days. She recently talked about wanting to achieve a major goal by the end of 2024.
While speaking on Sunday Night's Main Event, Athena revealed that she wants to hold the AEW Women's World Championship as well as the TBS Championship to become a Triple Crown Champion.
"I just hope to end 2024 as the triple crown champion. That's the greedy part in me. I don't know if my body will hold up having to defend three titles in a night, but we're going to try it and we're going to go for it. That is my goal at the end of 2024," Athena said.
It remains to be seen how the contest at Death Before Dishonor goes as the 35-year-old star is legitimately injured.