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AEW President Tony Khan did not take long to approve a creative pitch presented by a former WWE Superstar.
In an interview with Lyric Swinton on Saturday Night's Main Event, Athena shared her insight into working with the CEO of AEW in developing a segment for Ring of Honor. The former NXT talent has been dominating ROH as the reigning Women's World Champion.
Athena was featured in a graduation ceremony segment involving her "minions," Lexy Nair and Billie Starkz, on the November 30, 2023, episode of ROH on HonorClub. The ceremony saw Starkz being snubbed in favor of Nair, which led to the 19-year-old rising talent turning on the Minion Overlord. Starkz unsuccessfully challenged Athena for her title at ROH Final Battle 2023.
Speaking in the interview, the Fallen Goddess revealed her collaboration with Tony Khan in producing segments for herself and her on-screen associates. She even commented on speaking to the company's Head of Creative regarding the graduation segment:
"None of this would happen without TK. It was really awesome to be able to be given the ball and the faith is given to me each and every week when I go to work. Tony and I work hand in hand with creating minion stuff. I remember telling him, 'We need a minion graduation.' He's like, 'I'm sorry, what?' I go, 'Yeah, we need a minion graduation.' He's like, 'Tell me how this is going to go. I am immensely intrigued.' He loved the idea. I had my first promo in a very long time out there. I remember sweating. I was like, 'I've been doing one takes backstage. I got this in the bag.' It's just an honor to be me," [Athena] said about her run in Ring of Honor. [H/T, Fightful]
Tony Khan may bring back QT Marshall
QT Marshall departed from AEW in December 2023, resigning from his positions as a talent and as Vice President of Show & Creative Coordination. The New Jersey native cited disagreements over the company's creative direction and reportedly wanted to focus on his in-ring career. However, veteran journalist Dave Meltzer has recently claimed that Tony Khan is bringing back the 38-year-old star.
According to recent reports from Fightful, the former AAA Latin American Champion is returning to AEW. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer commented on the roles Marshall may serve on returning to the promotion:
“QT is going to be essentially (…) his key role is going to be talent development as well as trainer and everything like that. So he left on December 31st, and Tony Khan said if he wanted to come back, the door was open, and I guess he wanted to come back. I know the idea was he wanted to make it as a main-event wrestler. He worked a bunch of indies. But he can still work those indies. So he’s coming back for that job. So, [he is] starting up soon,” he said. [3:14 - 3:52]
Fans have missed QT Marshall, and he recently took to his X account to express he felt the same way. However, he added that his AEW gimmick was not working, particularly pointing towards the QTV storyline.
What do you think about Tony Khan bringing QT Marshall back to AEW? Let us know your thoughts below!
