Athena Names Female WWE Stars Who Encouraged Her To Speak Up Backstage

Though she's been part of the AEW roster in WWE, Athena spent six years in WWE under the name Ember Moon, and her career in the company was something of a roller coaster. While she was largely beloved by fans in "WWE NXT," she experienced significant creative roadblocks on the main roster — partially, according to Athena herself, because of her own passivity.

 "When you pitch creative, it only goes so far, and it's out of your control, so once like, it was like, 'Well, I spoke my piece. They're going to like it, hate it, or tell me what they think otherwise, but at times I was afraid to speak out," Athena said during an appearance on "Busted Open." "Through Mickie [James] and Nattie, and Charlotte [Flair] and them, they would be like, 'Hey, you have to do this,' and I think because I'm so naturally shy, that it took people going, 'Alright girl, you ready to swim?' ... Giving that big push for me to actually get the confidence to do that."

With Athena now having 15 years of in-ring experience, she's a veteran in the business at this point, and her experiences with people like James, Natalya, and Flair has helped her provide assistance to others now since her AEW debut at Double or Nothing back in May.

"I think that's something that's carried over," Athena said. "Not only am I one of the most experienced people in the locker room, people come to me sometimes and they're like, 'Hey, what do you think about this?'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.