Billie Starkz Reflects On Storyline With Athena, Growth Since ROH Final Battle 2023

Billie Starkz battles Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship tonight at Final Battle, and she spoke about her long-running storyline with Athena and more. Starkz spoke with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp ahead of the match and you can see some highlights below:

On her storyline 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.”

On how her association with Athena began: “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.”

On what she’s learned from Athena: “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.'”

On her growth since their last match at Final Battle 2023: “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.”