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by Alan J. Wojcik of http://alanwojcik.tripod.com
The GODDESS ATHENA is one of the most beautiful yet dangerous women in
the world of professional wrestling. She has managed many individuals
and tag teams to championship gold while working for NWA: TNA, USA Championship
Wrestling, CWA (Columbia TN), USWO and NWA-Main Event. In this interview
we’ll find out how Athena got involved in wrestling plus she will
share some stories about her favorite and least favorite people in the
wrestling business. This was conducted under the watchful eyes of the
“dreaded” heel section (a fan group that attends TNA and other
Nashville wrestling events) after a USWO event in Madison TN.
Alan Wojcik: I know you turn down interview requests weekly. So thank you in advance and I’ll try not to make them mad (the Heel Section orders late dinner.) Before you were involved it, was wrestling part of your childhood or adult life?
Athena: Not at all. If I could go back and change that I would. All of my childhood and college was devoted to music. I wrote, performed, played and even went to college for music; I was a music education major at Middle Tennessee State University. I was the biggest band nerd in my high school. I’m proud of that, I was late bloomer. I began watching wrestling about six months before I began working. The first independent show I attended was the first one I worked on and I’ve been going to them every weekend five years later.
AW: How did a band nerd end up in wrestling and how did you get hooked up with the most vocal man in wrestling, Hot Rod Biggs?
Athena: I ask myself every day how I got into this business. I have day job to keep Mom happy and I’ve been doing eight years now. A friend who is a dancer knew I was looking for a hobby. One night we were going to hang out and she told me that she was doing this wrestling thing. She was enjoying it but it cost her a pay night at the club to help this guy out. I told her I have got to meet this guy. When she introduced me I attacked him. I wasn’t looking as good as I am sitting here with you but I told him I can look slutty and do the job you need. That’s how I met Hot Rod Biggs. He gave me the chance for some strange reason. No matter what I say I am grateful to Rod.
AW: How much of (real name deleted) is the Goddess Athena plus what is the origin of the name and your in-ring persona?
Athena: Because I was late bloomer and the biggest nerd it made me stronger than the normal person would be. I think Athena is my way of standing up for myself. It felt so good that first night through the curtain to take all my frustrations out on the fans. From my youth to today being a corporate sellout I can go to the ring and vent all of that pent up. Wrestling as shown me the world isn’t a happy place and it has toughened me up. It has changed (real name deleted) because now I stand up for myself in the day job where before I was the one who kept her mouth shut. There isn’t much of me in Athena but there is plenty of Athena in me if that makes any sense.
AW: What did Mom and Dad say about your involvement in professional wrestling?
Athena: They never came to a show before they left Tennessee. They now live in Florida and they hate wrestling and are embarrassed by me. USA Championship Wrestling is on Comcast Sports South and they won’t watch it to see the success their daughter has obtained. It makes me mad but I have the best friends anyone can ask for. They are what keeps me driven to do this each weekend. I couldn’t ask for a better support system. (The Heel Section thanks Athena for the compliment by hugging her and I have to stop the tape for several minutes.)
AW: Before we get into the promotions you have and still work with, let’s talk about some of your former and current clients. How did you come to work with “the Australian Heartthrob” Ashley Hudson and what did Athena bring to him that may have been missing before you took over his career?
Athena: Ashley and I dated for a while and Bert (Prentice of USA Championship Wrestling) made us into a storyline. Bert did that to us and he has done it with other couples who will remain nameless. Ashley was in a successful team with Kory Williams called the New South. It was a great duo because they made me want to pull up a chair and watch the event instead of managing. It’s a shame that not many fans got to see them perform. Kory is one of the funniest people on the mic.
AW: With Hot Rod under your advisement he has had many tag team partners but let’s focus on one, his name is Hammerjack.
Athena: I love Hammerjack he is one of my favorite people in wrestling. He is a great guy and I love how he takes on his character when he comes through the curtain. I’ve seen fans want to kill him just like you saw at tonight’s show. He is the same way as me, a complete opposite on stage than behind the scenes. Hopefully this doesn’t ruin his image in the fans eyes sorry Hammer. Hot Rod gave me the chance. I’ve been on and off with him my entire time in the business. We split for a bit but we are together again. Rod and I are the best fit, beauty and the beast. We are complete opposites yet we are magical at ringside. I think we are together for a reason.
AW: How does a heel manager end up with one of the biggest babyfaces in wrestling “Cowboy” James Storm?
Athena: Let me start by saying I apologize to the Heel Section for they didn’t know about this until just now (utensils hit the plates and silence looms in the distance.) I’ve kept it from them for a long time. When I first started working for NWA Worldwide for Mike Porter. It was after Reno Riggins’ promotion folded and Porter took over the Fairgrounds. I came in with Mike and I was turned babyface when I began refereeing. There was an angle when PRX (a group that had among its members Jeff Daniels and Chris Champion) kidnapped me and held me for weeks. James and I got paired after that and we were together for a while. Funny story the first night I managed Rod was June 4, 1999 in McMinnville, Tennessee and his opponent was “Cowboy” James Storm. James was the first guy I ever slapped and I think I dislocated his jaw, sorry about that James. He has been getting revenge since by spanking me in the ring. I still have some hand prints there, I’m kidding by the way.
AW: You have worked for many promotions. First one I wish to ask you about is Mike Porter.
Athena: When I worked for him we got along well. I haven’t worked for him in a while. I’m happy with my current promotions which are USA Championship Wrestling on Mondays for TV, All Star Wrestling in Lewisburg on Thursdays which is run by Mikey Dunn, USWO in Madison on Fridays which is run by Tony Falk, on Saturdays I split time between CWA which is run by Shane Morton and Southern Championship Wrestling in Petersburg which is run by Devin Domain. As you can see I have a full schedule and a full time job to juggle.
AW: You brought up Bert Prentice before. You have worked for him with USA. He is one of the most talked about people in indy wrestling. What is it like working for Bert Prentice?
Athena: I have worked for him since 2000. He has helped me along the way despite numerous tiffs about my character. With me working in so many towns I want to keep Athena consistent in the fans eyes. No one has done more for me than Bert despite the arguments.
AW: Was it Bert that got you the ring girl work with NWA: TNA?
Athena: It was a combination of Bert and NWA Wildside’s Bill Behrens. I had worked for Bill in 2001 right before I tore my ACL and had the numerous surgeries. They called me sort of last minute asking if I would come down and do the coat running. I thought hey three years to picking up coats? But it was a way to be involved and a chance to see guys like AJ Styles, Chris Harris and James Storm finally get their break. It was fun for a while but like anything it wore me down.
AW: For a couple of weeks you were paired with David Young against Sonny Siaki and his friend Desire.
Athena: I am glad I got to be part of TNA but I was disappointed I didn’t get to show what I do best. They brought me in as a ring girl who knew nothing about the business. I had to put on that persona and it was really hard. The Heel Section plus tons of fans had seen me work at the Nashville Fairgrounds (AKA TNA Asylum) back when I was the only woman on shows. For three years they saw me and then this promotion comes in and doesn’t use me when the other local guys are working. Each week people would bring signs and the fans watching on PPV had no idea who Athena was. When I got on they were probably thinking this is what all the fuss was about? I never got to show them what it was all about. I am glad I got my chance. Sonny hit me with the Siacalypse Now and people that saw the tape said I was lucky not to be paralyzed. But after a visit to the chiropractor the reports came back good. Sonny is a great guy and someone who goes out of his way to talk with you.
AW: After you left TNA you became the manager of the Former USA Championship Wrestling tag team champions Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas, the Naturals AKA the Alternative Express when you worked in Memphis. How did that pairing come about?
Athena: It happened at a USA show. Rod was rushed to the hospital but he told me to stay at the building. So the show went on and I was dressed and ready to work. I went to Bert and Bob (Ryder) to see what could be done. Before that show I had managed Chase a few times. So Chase and Andy said why don’t you come out with us? We went out and it clicked. The whole team took off. The best thing was every time I went to the ring with Chase and Andy I learned something new. I miss that but what can you do.
AW: When I interviewed Chase he felt the Alternative Express was a rib played on you guys by Jimmy Hart and Jerry Lawler. But first tell me what its like to get a call that’s telling you drive to Memphis to work for Jerry Lawler?
Athena: Prior to those trips, I had worked for Memphis Wrestling in June 2001. In fact that show, the Clash of the Legends, I tore my ACL. I went under a mask as Ying Yang Young with Sonny Ono as my manager and I worked Stacy Carter AKA the Cat. Somehow in the middle of the match I got hurt. Anyone got a copy please send it to me. At one point my leg gave out and she had no clue due to me being under the mask. We kept wrestling and after the match Sonny had to almost carry me to the back. After a little while it ballooned up to a grapefruit. It took four surgeries to get over it and to this day I still don’t have full extension due to the major errors in the original surgery. They took my handicap parking placard away from me, which is a major bummer. I had fun working for Jerry. I had begun watching wrestling after watching an old Andy Kaufman special talking about when he wrestled Jerry. He cut some great promos on Jerry and it clicked in my head. It had nothing to do with him being on Monday Night Raw. Sorry to tell the fans that’s how I got interested in wrestling but like I said I wish I could change that. I liked the Alternative Express gimmick we were given and it proved that they could take anything thrown at them. I liked dressing up in the Goth outfits it felt like Halloween. They worked and looked better as the Naturals. But it wasn’t as bad as Chase made it sound.
AW: Unfortunately you are no longer the manager of the Naturals, April Pennington is. How does that make you feel? (The Heel Section tells Athena not to answer but she chooses to)
Athena: I had some personal things come up in December and I couldn’t make a TV appearance. They told me we need you there so we can turn you face and turn April, the babyface blond Barbie doll into a heel. I didn’t believe it. The people really liked our pairing despite our being heels and why change it if it’s not broken. It happened so quickly and I still couldn’t make the taping. I made it known to them for a few weeks prior. That Saturday I turned on the TV and there was April with Andy and Chase. It was the biggest slap to the face. I traveled the road with them and they stabbed me in the back. I let it get to me but I shouldn’t have. It’s the nature of the business. Not to mention I have all this pink and black in my closet that I now have nothing to do with.
AW: What is the dumbest thing a fan has ever asked you or sad to you while you were at ringside?
Heel Section member: Can I take shower with you?? (The Heels laugh)
Athena: Wow. First I have to say I named the phenomenon known as Chicken Hat. I want the credit I deserve for it. He is my special little boy. Gosh, give me a second. One of my favorite things includes the first time I was called a whore at that first McMinnville show. There was so much hate behind it and it made me say wow I’m going to love this business. I feed off all that stuff especially not knowing none of it is (real name deleted.) A few weeks ago I came back to USA for revenge on the Naturals and April. I asked Bert why I should get revenge on April instead of the guys who worked for me. It made no sense. I came back during their match where they lost the tag titles. I pulled off the pink and black jacket to reveal a referee shirt from my days as a ref and counted down the Naturals lost the lost to Rex Sexton and big bully Douglas. It was night of a double shot before USA moved their tapings to Monday. Some Rex Sexton fans were in a car after the second shot which was at USWO. This woman says to me Athena thanks for helping Rex. I told her I didn’t do it for Rex I did for Athena and I got into my car and sped away thinking god I love this business!!
AW: For the men that drool over you and the women that envy you, where do you get some of the amazing outfits you wear to the ring?
Athena: I’d tell you Alan but I’d have to kill you and I like you too much to do that.
AW: What is the best concert you have ever attended?
Athena: It has to be one of the 15 times I’ve seen U2 or Prince. I hope the Darkness concert I see in Atlanta gets on that list. I love all kinds of music. I stalk U2 all the time. Mom just thought it was a phase.
AW: What is on the list of bands I want to see before I leave this earth?
Athena: Like me I know Depeche Mode is one of your favorites but I missed their last tour unlike you. Sade and Thicke could also be on that list.
AW: Who created www.thegoddessathena.com and how much input do you have in its content?
Athena: I am the designer and webmaster. (The Heel Section applauds) On the site I keep sewing patterns and cooking recipes. Yeah Right!! I try to update it with my schedule and new photos. It’s a fun to learn the way to properly design websites. In fact I am designing www.hotrodbiggs.com. Rod has one hell of a life that everyone must read about. He is so honest about his past in this business and people can learn things from him
AW: You recently lost a beloved fan named Juanita Williams. What did Juanita mean to you and wrestling?
Athena: Juanita was at every show I can remember from my first day in wrestling. My fans are like my family. I don’t like to act like I’m better than them and I think that’s how some people in wrestling act. I appreciate the fact they spend their money to see me and other people work. I eat with the Heels each week after show. Wrestling was Juanita life. Lots of the boys attended the funeral and that’s what she wanted. The minister made several wrestling references in it and that made people smile. I do remember I was a heel and one of the first things I said to her not knowing I was sick. Juanita had put on weight due to liver problems. She was mouthing off to me and she was eating popcorn and I snapped at her to keep shoveling in popcorn that will help out the situation and she yelled back at least I don’t have AIDS. Now I had lost a cousin to AIDS. Now remember I am in full heel mode so I fired back maybe you should get it so you could lose some weight. It wasn’t me but I winked as I said it. A week before she died he was still there sitting in a wheelchair and I made eye contact. She loved wrestling and people like her inspire me to keep going despite all the politics and BS that comes with the business.
AW: What do you hope the future holds for Athena?
Athena: You know what I am having such a good time. My life and the shows are so stress free. I am getting creative control and I am having a blast. I am being realistic. When TNA is in my hometown and can’t use me I can’t see the WWE calling. I just turned 30. I will keep going and I’m not done raising hell.
I wish to say thank you to the Goddess Athena for her time and the Heel Section for letting me leave Nashville in one piece. Be sure to visit www.thegoddessathena.com, http://heelsection.com , www.usachampionshipwrestling.com, www.columbiawrestlingalliance.com
