Reese was born inGarland, Texas on August 31, 1988. She attendedLakeview Centennial High School where she played tennis and softball as well as participating in the school's chess club and the mathlete program.[10] During her time in high school, Reese was maliciously bullied by her peers for her interests in video games and wrestling.[10]
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2007–2015)
Reese was first introduced to professional wrestling by her grandfather, and she began training underSkandor Akbar in April 2007.[11] She later trained atBooker T'sPro Wrestling Alliance (now named Reality of Wrestling) based inHouston,Texas, and began wrestling as Trouble in 2007 and later, Athena.[6] Athena also wrestled for various other Texas-based promotions, most notably Anarchy Championship Wrestling (ACW), based inAustin, where she won the women's title, ACW American Joshi Championship three times, as well the ACW Television Championship.[6] From 2010 to 2015, she also worked for the all-female promotionsShimmer Women Athletes andWomen Superstars Uncensored.[6]
Ring of Honor (2013–2015)
Between 2013 and 2015, Reese worked forRing of Honor (ROH) as part of a stable by the name of Team RnB alongsideA.C.H.[12] who joined TaDarius Thomas[13] and then the two became a ROH tag team by the name of Adrenaline Rush consisting of A.C.H and TaDarius Thomas only.[14] Also during this time period inROH in theROH Women of Honor division Athena competed in matches against talent such asMsChif,Barbi Hayden,Cherry Bomb,Scarlett Bordeaux and more before silently being departed from ROH in 2015.[15][16][17][18][19]
After she returned on June,[34] she faced Asuka again for the championship atNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, but was once again defeated.[35] In August, Asuka had to vacate the NXT Women's Championship due to an injury.[36] On November 18, Moon won the vacant NXT Women's Championship in a fatal-four-way match, defeating Royce,Nikki Cross, andKairi Sane.[37] As champion, Moon held the title for 140 days, feuding withShayna Baszler. AtNXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Moon retained her title against her, but lost it atNXT TakeOver: New Orleans.[38]
Throughout June and July, Moon feuded withMandy Rose andSonya Deville, who bullied her. After losing singles matches to both Deville and Rose on the June 25 and the July 2 episodes ofSmackDown, respectively, Moon teamed up withSmackDown Women's ChampionBayley to defeat Rose and Deville on the July 16 episode, ending the feud. After the match, Bayley picked Moon as her challenger forSummerSlam. However, Moon lost the match and started alosing streak, going winless in five straight televised matches.[44] Moon would then suffer an ankle injury, and she was not in either of the draft pools for the2019 WWE Draft in October. She appeared on the November 19 episode ofWWE Backstage as an analyst and stated she would be out of action for an indefinite period of time.[45]
Return to NXT (2020–2021)
In 2020, after months of inactivity, Moon was assigned back to NXT, where she debuted a new character. In September 2020, vignettes advertising a mysterious figure on a motorcycle appeared onNXT on consecutive weeks.[46] AtNXT TakeOver 31, the mystery figure took off her helmet and revealed herself to be Moon.[47] She formed a tag team withShotzi Blackheart, participating in the first ever women'sDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, where they lost toDakota Kai andRaquel González in the finals. They won theNXT Women's Tag Team Championship on March 10, 2021, when they defeated Kai and González.[48] Despite retaining the titles atNXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver againstThe Way (Candice LeRae andIndi Hartwell), they lost it against them on the May 4 episode ofNXT in aStreet Fight, ending their reign at 55 days. AtNXT TakeOver: In Your House, Moon challenged Raquel González for theNXT Women's Championship but was defeated. On November 4, Moon was released from WWE along with various other superstars, ending her six-year tenure with the company.[49]
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present)
Reese, now going by her old ring name Athena, would challengeThunder Rosa for the Warrior Wrestling Women's Championship on February 12.[50] At the event, Rosa retained the title after the two wrestled to a 30-minute draw. On June 15, 2025, Athena announced that she will be hosting an all-women's wrestling event calledWho Runs The World?, that will take place on August 9.[51] A second such event took place later that year, with a third planned for March 2026. The events are being held under the Metroplex Wrestling banner, the indie promotion/wrestling school owned by her and her husband.
All Elite Wrestling / Return to ROH (2022–present)
With the relaunch ofHonor Club,[60] Athena retained her title in a match against Willow Nightingale on the March 9, 2023, episode ofROH on Honor Club.[61] Athena would solidify herself as a heel by attacking her opponents after defeating them, which would become a recurring theme.[62] After having her sixth successful title defense againstEmi Sakura on the March 20 episode ofROH on Honor Club, Athena attacked Sakura until she was saved byYuka Sakazaki, to whom Athena had lost in a tag team match back in January.[63][64] This led to Athena defending her title against Sakazaki on March 31 atSupercard of Honor, which she did successfully.[65] On June 25 atForbidden Door, Athena competed in theOwen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament, defeatingBillie Starkz in the quarterfinals of the tournament.[66] On the July 14 episode ofRampage, Athena lost at the semifinals toWillow Nightingale.[67] On July 21, atDeath Before Dishonor, Athena successfully defended her title against Nightingale in the main event, where the pair made history by participating in the first women's match to headline a ROH's pay-per-view.[68]
In late 2023, Athena became the mentor ofBillie Starkz andLexy Nair, with Starkz and Nair becoming her 'minions' and formed the stable"M.I.T.". On the November 23 episode ofROH Honor Club TV, Athena and Starkz lost toRonda Rousey andMarina Shafir.[69] On the following episode of ROH Wrestling, Starkz defeated Shafir in a one-on-one match, with Starkz proceeded to attack Shafir after the match. Athena and Nair come out and feigned announcing that Starkz had graduated from 'minion training'. Athena then announced that only Nair was thevaledictorian. Starkz then got upset and attacked Athena. Starkz then metTony Khan backstage and requested a championship match with Athena, which Khan accepted. The match was then made forFinal Battle.[70] At the event, Athena defeated Starkz to retain the ROH Women's World Championship.[71] On the March 14, 2024, episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Athena issued a title match open challenge atSupercard of Honor after declaring that she needs someone other than the ROH roster to push her to the limit. The open challenge was answered by a debutingHikaru Shida.[72] At the event on April 5, Athena defeated Shida to retain the title.[73] On April 13 atBattle of the Belts X, Athena successfully defended her title againstRed Velvet.[74] On the June 20 episode ofROH Wrestling, she announced that she has tore her ankle ligaments and will be out for four to six months. However, she declared that she will not relinquish the ROH Women's World Championship while she recovers from her injury, though this would be later proven to be a ruse.[75][76] On July 26 atDeath Before Dishonor, Athena successfully defended her title againstQueen Aminata.[77] On September 15, 2024, Athena became the longest reigning ROH title holder, surpassingSamoa Joe's reign asROH World Champion at 645 days.[9] On December 20 atFinal Battle, Athena once again successfully defended her title against Starkz.[78] On the December 26 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Athena kicked Nair out of M.I.T after Nair almost costed her her title atFinal Battle.[79]
On February 17, 2025, Athena hit a new landmark as Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, passing the 800-day mark as champion.[80] Athena made her return to AEW programming on the March 29 episode ofCollision, where she confronted the reigning TBS ChampionMercedes Moné. Later in the episode, Athena announced her entry into the women's bracket of theOwen Hart Cup, a tournament where the winner will receive anAEW Women's World Championship match atAll In.[81] During the tournament, Athena defeatedHarley Cameron in the quarter-final on the April 12 episode ofCollision,[82] but was eliminated in the semi-finals by Moné atSpring BreakThru on April 16.[83] On May 29, 2025, Athena hit another milestone as ROH Women's World Champion by hitting 900 days as champion.[84][85] On July 12 atAll In, Athena entered and won the women'sCasino Gauntlet match to earn a shot at the AEW Women's World Championship at any time she wants.[86] On the July 31 episode ofCollision, Athena invoked her guaranteed title shot against the reigning AEW Women's World Champion"Timeless" Toni Storm forForbidden Door on August 24, where she failed to win.[87][88] On September 5, 2025, Athena hit a fourth Milestone as ROH Women's World Champion by hitting 1000-days as champion.[89][90] AtWorlds End on December 27, Athena and Mercedes Moné unsuccessfully challenged the Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale) for theAEW Women's World Tag Team Championship.[91]
^Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 10, 2022)."ROH Women's World Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database.Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. RetrievedDecember 11, 2022.
^Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 23, 2022)."Warrior Wrestling Women's Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database.Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. RetrievedApril 30, 2022.
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