Pull up a barstool, grab a cold pint of cheap domestic light beer, and let’s talk about Athena. Actually, scratch that. Let's talk about the absolute heist Tony Khan has been pulling on the wrestling world for the last three years.
As of today, July 3, 2026, Athena has been the Ring of Honor Women's World Champion for exactly 1,301 days. Let that number sink into your skull. That is not a championship reign; that is a federal prison sentence.
While the AEW women's division has rotated through champions like a revolving door at a busy mall, one of the best in-ring performers on the planet has been hidden away on a subscription streaming service that about twelve people watch. But finally, the cell door is creaking open.
How to Disappear Completely in Ring of Honor
Athena won the championship back on December 10, 2022, when she defeated Mercedes Martinez at Final Battle. It was a great match, featuring a brutal O-Face off the top rope to secure the pinfall. At the time, we all figured she would hold the belt for a few months, drop it to a rising star, and get back to Dynamite.
Instead, she ended up shattering Samoa Joe’s previous historic record of 645 days. She did it by turning into the best heel in the entire company. She adopted Billie Starkz as her little minion and made Lexy Nair her best friend.
They were easily the most entertaining part of the weekly ROH tapings at WJCT studios in Jacksonville. But because those tapings are locked behind the HonorClub paywall, most fans only saw clips of it on social media. It felt like keeping prime Lebron James in the G-League just to sell season tickets in Sioux Falls. It was a massive waste of drawing power.
Sure, she defended the belt in absolute bangers. Look at the Survival of the Fittest match at Supercard of Honor on May 15, 2026. Athena went in against Maya World, Trish Adora, Yuka Sakazaki, Billie Starkz, and Zayda Steel. She won that brutal multi-woman elimination match, outlasting Maya World and Billie Starkz after hitting a stunning top-rope O-Face on Trish Adora. The match lasted over twenty minutes and left everyone in the arena completely breathless.
But it still felt like a waste of her prime years. She is simply too good to be wrestling in front of empty studio seats while Dynamite struggles to fill its mid-card. We need her on national television every single week.
The Beach Break Jailbreak
The good news is that the jailbreak is officially underway. On the July 2, 2026 episode of Collision, Athena wrestled a qualifying match against Rina. She won the match and secured the coveted number one entry spot for the upcoming Women's Casino Gauntlet.
Rina brought the fight, locking in a deep submission hold that nearly forced the champion to tap. But Athena powered out, hit a forearm smash, and finished her with a sudden rollup for the victory. It was a gritty win that showed she has not lost her edge in the ROH dungeon.
That gauntlet is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 8, at AEW Dynamite: Beach Break in Clearwater, Florida. It is going to be held at The BayCare Sound, a gorgeous outdoor venue where the Florida humidity is going to make everyone miserable. But the stakes are massive.
The winner gets a ticket to AEW Redemption on July 26, 2026, to face the reigning AEW Women's World Champion, Thekla. We also know the second entrant in the gauntlet. Maya World defeated Julia Hart on Collision to grab the number two spot.
Julia was looking to secure her spot with her trademark submission, but Maya countered a clothesline into a DDT before climbing the turnbuckles for a diving crossbody that got the three-count. Now we get to see Athena and Maya World start the gauntlet as the first two entrants. This is exactly the kind of match AEW needs to jumpstart its summer.
Thekla has been a force since she won the title on February 11, 2026, by choking out Kris Statlander in a brutal strap match. But she has not faced anyone with the sheer power and veteran experience of Athena. If Tony Khan has any booking sense left in his head, he will let Athena win this gauntlet. It is time to put the ROH title in a museum. Let the fallen goddess run wild on prime-time cable television.
A Weird Week in Pro Wrestling
While Athena is plotting her escape, the rest of the wrestling world is keeping things incredibly weird. Let's start in Detroit, where former Red Wings hockey enforcer Darren McCarty is apparently trying to find a new way to punch people.
McCarty held the grand opening for his Grind Time Wrestling Academy on July 2, 2026. They set up shop at the historic Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center, which is a cool venue for a wrestling gym. Brewster Wheeler once hosted boxing legends like Joe Louis, so the athletic history is deep.
TNA star Trey Miguel is on board as the beginner-level coach, which is a huge win for any local kids trying to learn how to fly. Miguel is one of the most creative aerial artists in the business today, and having him coach beginners is like having Stephen Curry teach kids how to shoot three-pointers. It is a brilliant move that gives the school instant credibility.
McCarty has always been a wrestling fan, but seeing a guy with four Stanley Cup rings running a wrestling school is wild. If he teaches these kids how to throw a hockey style jersey over someone's head before hitting them with a forearm, the school will be worth every penny. Detroit wrestling just got a lot more physical.
Meanwhile, over in Los Angeles, Sukeban is taking over Anime Expo. The Japanese all-female promotion has a World Championship Fight scheduled for today, July 3, at an off-site event in Downtown LA. If you have never watched Sukeban, it is a high-speed mix of anime aesthetics and hard-hitting Joshi style.
It is chaotic, colorful, and completely different from anything else in North America right now. It is exactly the type of counter-programming that keeps the indie scene alive.
Fighting the Real Battles
On a more serious note, we have to send some positive energy to "Brutal" Bob Evans. As we saw in reports from PWInsider, the Ring of Honor veteran is taking a break from the ring.
Evans recently underwent a medical procedure to correct atrial fibrillation, which is a fancy term for an irregular heartbeat. He is back home resting, but he cannot get physical in the ring for the foreseeable future. The good news is that he is still planning to run his training seminars.
Bob Evans has been a cornerstone of northeastern wrestling for decades. He trained guys like Mike Bennett and Cole Karter, helping shape the next generation of talent. His atrial fibrillation diagnosis is a scary reminder of how much physical stress these performers put their bodies through.
If you know anything about the New England indie scene, you know Bob is one of the most respected minds around. We hope he takes his time recovering because the business is always better when guys like him are healthy. Bob is the real deal.
Finally, we lost a piece of movie and wrestling history this week. Kjell Nilsson, the actor who played the legendary Lord Humungus in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, passed away on July 2 at the age of 76.
According to PWInsider's news round-up, Nilsson had been battling end-stage kidney disease for several years. His family shared that he stopped dialysis the Sunday before his passing, choosing to spend his final days in peace in Queensland, Australia. Nilsson was a true giant.
Wrestlers like Sid Vicious and Shane Douglas wore the mask and terrorized the territories back in the eighties. Nilsson's performance created an archetype that wrestling promoters copied for decades. Rest in peace to a true icon of pop culture.
