Athena wins tag match in Stardom debut, Tay Melo returns to the ring
ROH Women’s World Champion Athena had a successful debut for Stardom on Friday.
While in Japan ahead of Wrestle Dynasty, Athena had her first-ever match in the country at Stardom New Year Dream 2025, teaming with Thekla to defeat Tay Melo & Mina Shirakawa. The finish was Athena pinning Melo after hitting the O-Face.
Despite their victory, there was dissension between Athena and Thekla. And it looks like Thekla could be challenging Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship in the near future. They argued backstage after the match and Thekla issued a title challenge to Athena, but Athena turned it down.
“Look here, you’re nothing but trash. A pawn on my chessboard,” Athena told Thekla. “And as far as this goes, you want an opportunity? You want to prove yourself? You want Athena to put you in the spotlight? Absolutely not.”
“We’ll see about that,” Thekla responded.
Athena now heads to the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Dynasty on January 5, where she will compete against Willow Nightingale, Momo Watanabe, and Persephone in the Women’s International Cup four-way match. The winner receives a title shot of their choosing in either AEW, ROH, Stardom, or CMLL.
Friday’s match was also Melo’s Stardom debut — and it marked her first time back in the ring in nearly two years. It was Melo’s first time wrestling since she and Sammy Guevara welcomed their daughter Luna into the world.
An emotional Melo reacted to her return after the match, tearing up because she was so happy to be back. Melo said she’s “literally in love” with Japan.