Ring of Honor will be without one of its cornerstones for the next several weeks. According to Fightful Select, reigning ROH Women’s World Champion Athena is expected to step away from in-ring action for around five to six weeks. The exact reason for her hiatus hasn’t been disclosed.

The timing is notable, as “The Fallen Goddess” just hit a major milestone in her reign. Days after successfully defending her title against Mina Shirakawa at Death Before Dishonor on August 29, Athena officially surpassed 1,000 days as ROH Women’s Champion. She first captured the gold in December 2022 and has since built one of the most dominant legacies in the brand’s modern era.

During her reign, Athena has remained unbeaten in ROH-sanctioned singles competition, boasting a staggering 69-0 record. Along the way, she’s turned back challenges from names like Billie Starkz, Queen Aminata, Thunder Rosa, Alex Windsor, and Hikaru Shida. Her dominance even extended beyond ROH, as she recently tested herself against AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at Forbidden Door. While Storm walked away victorious in their crossover clash, Athena’s showing further solidified her standing among the elite of women’s wrestling.

With Athena temporarily out of action, questions naturally turn to how Ring of Honor will handle her absence. Given her iron grip on the division, this break could open the door for challengers to emerge — or simply allow Athena to return refreshed and ready to extend her historic run even further.

Regardless, surpassing 1,000 days as champion cements Athena’s reign as one of the most dominant in modern wrestling, and her return will be a major moment for both ROH and AEW fans alike.

Athena appeared to have suffered an injury to her lower leg after facing Viva Van in an ROH television match on May 16.

Witnesses noted that she was unable to put weight on her ankle and needed help leaving the ring. Dave Meltzer reported the following in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 

“Athena’s injury, which was to her ankle, isn’t as bad as feared, and is expected back in a few weeks.”

Source: eWn

The “Forever” ROH Women’s Champion, Athena, reportedly sustained an injury during the ROH portion of last night’s “AEW Collision” tapings. According to PWInsider, Athena suffered the injury during a spot which saw her charge through the middle ropes, landing hard on the outside, and was seen limping when she returned to the ring.

Upon her return, Athena landed a forearm smash to her opponent, who kicked out of the first pinfall attempt but stayed down for a second, wrapping up the match. It’s noted that Athena appeared to have relayed her injury to the referee in between the pin attempts. Athena was said to have remained in character after the match, but would not put any weight on her left leg and hopped out with assistance from the referee and another staffer. She was reportedly checked out after the match, but there has yet to be an update on the nature or the significance of the issue.

Athena has been the ROH Women’s Champion for 525 days, after first capturing the title from Mercedes Martinez in December 2022. Back in December last year, she outlined 2024 as the year she would like to take another stab at dominating AEW TV again, further setting her sights on the TBS and AEW Women’s World Championships as part of her goal of being the women’s triple crown champion. She had made somewhat of a stride towards that goal in April, returning to AEW programming to defend her title against Red Velvet at “Battle of the Belts X.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.