Athena on How Skandor Akbar Trained Her to be Aggressive in the Ring

– Ahead of last night’s ROH Final Battle, ROH Women’s Champion Athena spoke to Under the Ring about training with Skandor Akbar. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Athena on training with Skandor Akbar: “I just remember he was so tough and so adamant that I didn’t train like a woman, that I was going to be special beause he also trained Ms. Jaqueline, he was also influential … And JBL, according to him, Mean Mark’s [Undertaker] career, if you guys know who that is. So it was very important to him that I showed that aggression, that I didn’t wrestle like a woman, that I didn’t wrestle like what was on TV.”

On what Akbar instilled in her: “And I think … that I was different, that I could wrestle and do everything that the guys did. He instilled in my brain that, ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. You’re a pro wrestler, and pro wrestling is the game. Be aggressive. Be the bad guy, be the good guy, be whoever you want to be. But don’t be limited to gender, don’t be limited to race. Ak was really adamant about those types of things, which I feel has definitely been ingrained in my brain to this day.”

In the main event of last night’s ROH Final Battle pay-per-view event, Athena beat Billie Starkz to retain her title. The event was held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas and broadcast live on pay-per-view.