"I was afraid to speak out" - Athena says top WWE Superstars helped her to speak up backstage

AEW star Athena (aka Ember Moon) said Charlotte Flair and other WWE Superstars helped her speak up for herself in the back.

Ember Moon aka Athena was one of the top women in the Black and Gold brand who won a Fatal 4 Way match to become the NXT Women's Champion. In 2018, she lost the title to Shayna Baszler at TakeOver New Orleans. She was later moved to Monday Night RAW.

Last year, she returned to her roots where she teamed up with Shotzi and won the WWE NXT Women's Tag Team Championship. Speaking on Busted Open Radio, the 34-year-old star said she learned from WWE Superstars like Charlotte Flair and more about speaking up for herself in backstage meetings:

"When you pitch creative, it only goes so far, and it's out of your control, so once like, it was like, 'Well, I spoke my peace. They're going to like it, hate it, or tell me what they think otherwise, but at times I was afraid to speak out... Through Mickie [James] and Nattie, and Charlotte [Flair] and them, they would be like, 'Hey, you have to do this,' and I think because I'm so naturally shy, that it took people going, 'Alright girl, you ready to swim?'... Giving that big push for me to actually get the confidence to do that." [H/T - WrestlingInc]

In May, Athena made her AEW debut at Double or Nothing and signed with the company. Earlier this month, she faced Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship at All Out and lost.

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Athena opens up about her time in WWE

Earlier this year, Athena returned to wrestling when she signed with All Elite Wrestling. Over the past few months, she stacked up victories to face Jade Cargill for the title and lost at All Out.

Often WWE Superstars face several issues within their careers that make them leave the company or industry. Speaking on NBC Sports Boston, the 34-year-old star shared her experience of working with WWE:

"Over the course of like six seven years with WWE it became work. When I like left it was like I got to sit at home for three months and just kind of figure out what I wanted to do and I didn’t necessarily know if I wanted to wrestle again it was just like ah okay because I was afraid that I would go like and it would feel like work and so like on some level yeah I feel like the passion was sucked out," said Athena.

Fortunately, she is in a much better place and doing much better for her career in AEW. She was last seen on Dynamite where she was saved by Saraya.

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