Willow Nightingale Reflects On Facing Athena On PPV, ‘It Was More Special Than I Could’ve Imagined’

Willow Nightingale reflects on her most recent match against Athena.

In 2023 alone, Nightingale and Athena have faced off in three separate singles matches. Athena won the first bout back in February, but Nightingale won the second match in July, which was a semi-final match of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. 

Later on in July, Nightingale and Athena faced off in the main event of the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view in a ROH Women’s World Championship match. After a grueling back and forth match, Athena came out on top and retained her championship.

In a recent media scrum at Starrcast, Nightingale reflected on the third match with Athena and how it was a very special night for her, despite the fact that she lost the bout.

“I think every time you are put into a big match like that, you hope that it will be something special. The two times before that when Athena and I wrestled had been matches I was proud of. Whether I came out the victor or not, I was definitely proud of the matches I had with her. Going in, you imagine that it’s going to be something special. Having it be in Trenton, New Jersey, I’m from Long Island, so that’s the tri-state. That’s where I was grinding and cutting my teeth on the indies, so having the crowd behind me like that, having my parents there, just the energy in the building, all of it together, [coupled with] being the first main event for a Ring Of Honor pay-per-view by two women, it was more special than I could’ve imagined. That is really saying something, considering I didn’t walk away with the championship at the end of that night. I was hurting, I was tired, I desperately needed to take a nap after, but I still had a smile on my face because even though I lost, I knew I laid it out and did my best.”

Nightingale and Athena recently faced one another in a six woman tag team match during the Zero Hour at AEW All Out. Fans can find Fightful’s full report on that show by clicking here.

Fans can watch Fightful’s interview with Willow Nightingale by clicking here.

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