Athena retains the ROH Women’s Championship at Final Battle. Mercedes Mone and Mina Shirakawa will face off in a title-for-title match at Wrestle Dynasty. Shay Kassidy chats with WrestleZone and more. Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!
Athena Retains ROH Women’s Title At Final Battle
“The Forever Champion” lives on.
After months of mistreatment from Athena, Billie Starkz challenged the M.I.T. leader for her ROH Women’s World Championship at Final Battle on December 20. Athena, whose reign recently surpassed two years, subsequently accepted the challenge, setting the stage for a rematch of last year’s Final Battle.
Like last year, Athena and Starkz main-evented the show. This time, though, they battled inside New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. As expected, Starkz put up a valiant effort against her former mentor. At one point, the 20-year-old prodigy seemed to be inching toward victory as she laid out Athena with a tombstone piledriver, and later, a Swanton. In the end, however, it was Athena who emerged victorious after launching Starkz into an exposed turnbuckle and stunning her with an O-Face.
With this win, Athena will now head into 2025 with the ROH Women’s Championship still on her shoulder. Beyond that, she heads to Japan for a pair of matches at STARDOM and Wrestle Dynasty, respectively.
“Right now, I’m really looking forward to Wrestle Dynasty at the Tokyo Dome,” Athena said on the Final Battle Media Scrum. “I’ve never gotten to wrestle in Japan. That’s been a big dream of mine since I was on the independent scene. I never got to wrestle there at the other place (WWE), but this is a really cool opportunity a really cool moment. I’m trying not to get too excited about it because I feel like it’s really going to sink in once I get there.”
At Wrestle Dynasty, Athena will face CMLL’s Persephone, AEW’s Willow Nightingale, and STARDOM’s Momo Watanabe for the inaugural International Women’s Cup. Two days before, on January 3, she makes her STARDOM debut in a tag match alongside Thekla. Together, they will take on former Artist of STARDOM Champion Mina Shirakawa and AEW’s Tay Melo, the latter of whom will mark her own STARDOM debut as well.
Elsewhere at Final Battle, Red Velvet successfully defended the ROH Women’s TV Championship against Leyla Hirsch.
READ MORE: Tay Melo Announces In-Ring Return
Title-For-Title Match Also Set For Wrestle Dynasty
Following the aforementioned tag match at STARDOM, Mina Shirakawa will also be competing at AEW x NJPW Wrestle Dynasty. In her case, Shirakawa will defend her RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship against NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone in a title-for-title bout.
This double championship match comes after Mone laid out an open challenge after retaining her title at NJPW Strong Style Evolved. In a surprise turn of events, Shirakawa answered the call, with Mone upping the stakes to also include Shirakawa defending her respective title at Wrestle Dynasty.
In a recent edition of Mone Mag, Mone opened up about her relationship with Shirakawa, which began in the late 2010s.
“When I first touched down in Japan in 2018/2019, Rey Mysterio’s gearmaker reached out to me, saying, ‘You need to meet Mina; she’ll show you around!’ And from that moment, we just clicked,” Mone wrote. Mina was such a sweet soul, and she took me on an amazing tour of Japan, opening her world to me. Every time I return, she’s right there, introducing me to new experiences, new sights, and new adventures.
“So, when I threw down the challenge, I was over the moon when she accepted! Mina made it clear: everyone wants a piece of her, and she’s gunning for my championship. But here’s the twist—she’s got a title that I want too. January 5 is going to be monumental as we go title-for-title at the Tokyo Dome.”
Eight days before Wrestle Dynasty, Mone will defend her TBS Championship against Kris Statlander at AEW Worlds End.
READ MORE: Mercedes Moné vs. Kris Statlander Set For AEW Worlds End, Updated Card
WWE Raw Loads Up Card For Netflix Debut
On January 6, WWE Raw will officially move away from cable television and debut on the Netflix streaming platform. The landmark event will emanate from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, with four matches confirmed thus far. Two of these will see women’s championships put on the line.
First, WWE will crown the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion. After one round of tournament competition, four women remain in the hunt for this title, that being Dakota Kai, Zoey Stark, Lyra Valkyria, and IYO SKY. While Kai takes on Stark, Valkyria and SKY will battle on the other side of the bracket. The winners of these semi-final matchups will accordingly move on to the tournament finals, which is slated for the Raw on Netflix premiere.
Elsewhere, Liv Morgan will once again defend her WWE Women’s World Championship against Rhea Ripley. “The Eradicator” has attempted to regain this title twice before, but in both cases, interference from The Judgment Day prevented her from doing so. As such, Ripley is now aiming to put an end to her Judgment Day beef, and Morgan’s title reign, once and for all.
RELATED: Rhea Ripley References Liv Morgan Arrest, Tells Her To Touch Less Grass
INTERVIEWS
WrestleZone’s Ella Jay spoke with OPW Women’s Tag Team Champion Shay Kassidy about winning tag team gold at Mickie James’ HER event, WWE Hall of Famer Bull Nakano presenting The Backslide Girlz with the titles, love for Sabrina Carpenter & Taylor Swift, making her debut on the QWI 200, facing Shazza McKenzie at PWA Mounties Mania, ring gear inspirations, and more!
STARDOM’s Saya Kamitani chatted with WrestleZone’s Troy Gonzales about main event World of Stardom Championship match at Dream Queendom 2024, her history with Tam Nakano, her plans on taking over STARDOM as their new world champion, and more.
“La Princesa” Tiffany Nieves joined MuscleManMalcolm to talk about her undeniable goal to become the NWA Women’s World Champion, advice she received from Mickie James, why she’s the best at everything, her recent cage match at NWA Looks That Kill, and more.
ROH Women’s Champion Athena spoke with Denise Salcedo about her main-eventing ROH Final Battle, a tease at her entrance attire, potentially wrestling TBS Champion Mercedes Mone, her own historic reign, her pre-match rituals, and more.
ECW alumni Shelly Martinez appeared on Ring the Belle to discuss the origin of her vampire character, her iconic entrance, and her memorable feuds with Francine and Kelly Kelly, her rocky relationship with on-screen partner Kevin Thorn, being scanned for WWE’s video game, the untold story of her WWE return, and more.
