Billie Starkz discusses working with Athena.
At ROH Final Battle, Billie Starkz challenged Athena for the ROH World Championship after they had been involved in a lengthy storyline where Starkz had been Athena's Minion in Training. Athena beat Starkz, but they continued to work together for the next several months. The storyline has continued to heat up, and Starkz will challenge Athena for the title again at ROH Final Battle 2024.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Billie Starkz commented on her long-term story with Athena.
"This has been my longest storyline by far, and probably my most intricate. I feel like we’ve had so many ups and downs throughout our history," Starkz said.
Starkz was then asked about Athena mentioning that the storyline wasn’t supposed to go this long. Starkz noted that it may have only started when she got a concussion, and Tony Khan told Athena to take care of her. She stated that this was how MIT was born, and the response to it prompted them to move forward.
"I will say, I don’t know how much public knowledge this is. It might have only gotten started when I got a concussion in Lexington and I couldn’t wrestle for a couple of weeks. Tony was like, ‘Athena, take care of Billie,’ and we got thrown together. That’s how MIT got created and everybody loved it so much that we kept running with it," Starkz said.
When asked to describe what she has learned from Athena, Starkz said that the veteran would throw hert into the fire sometimes. She explained how this was beneficial because Athena had so much experience that her advice was sometimes beyond her.
"She will throw me into the fire sometimes, and I think that is for the best because some of the times, when she tries to explain things to me, I think she has so much experience, and it’s beyond my years currently, that I truly don’t understand what she is trying to tell me. She’s like, ‘I’m just going to throw you into this situation and you’re going to figure it out. I know you’re smart enough to figure it out,'" Starkz said.
Looking back on how much she had grown since her match with Athena at ROH Final Battle 2023, Starkz pointed out that it had been a whole year. She highlighted how she would approach this match differently, and she would not hesitate this time.
"It’s been a whole year. Since the ROH TV Tournament, I’ve grown so much as a wrestler. I’m beyond violent. I’m not going to hesitate this match. The previous match, I was truly pretending to be a friend. I was still a friend to Athena. We’ve burnt that bridge," Starkz said.
Starkz previously said that Athena was one of the smartest women in the business. Check out her comments here.
Click here to see what Athena had to say about facing Billie Starkz.
Fightful will have coverage of ROH Final Battle as it airs on December 20.
