ATHENA is the perfect woman to defeat Mercedes Mone
Who will be the woman to defeat Mercedes Mone? Athena is the right one to claim that accolade.
All Elite Wrestling has a stacked women’s roster. With the additions of individuals like Megan Bayne, the group continues to add performers who can stand at the top of the division. But few would argue that Mercedes Mone is the star of the women’s division, and perhaps the entire company. Mone remained undefeated in 2024, but there’s a growing expectation that she’ll drop the “Belt Collector 2.0” gimmick and start to lose titles in 2025. If anyone is going to take the AEW TBS Championship from around her waist, that woman is ATHENA.
ATHENA is riding the wave of one of the most important runs in women’s wrestling. As of this writing, she’s 773 days into her run as Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion. ROH has one of the most storied histories in professional wrestling, and Athena has the accolade of holding the world championship for the longest amount of time, regardless of gender. Even though all that reign has been on Honor Club and not on television, Athena’s fanbase has been very vocal about their support for the “Forever Champion.”
While all the blame for Athena not being on television falls to Tony Khan, that can be quickly remedied by welcoming her to the main roster at some point in 2025. Mercedes Mone and Athena were involved in several multi-person matches when their tenures in WWE overlapped, but they’ve never faced off in a one-on-one match. This is why putting this contest together in AEW at this time is one of the most important feuds that the company can put together.
Mercedes Mone has made a career of making others. While her fans don’t always appreciate that she’s been so giving with her stature, one time it was widely celebrated was when she dropped the title to Bianca Belair back at WrestleMania. That was seen as one of the most important moments in wrestling history. AEW could have its own moment by giving Mone and Athena the main event of AEW All-In, setting the stage for Athena to get a major victory over the superstar performer. That would open the door for Mone to do other things and eventually chase after the AEW Women’s World Championship, while Athena goes on an excellent run of her own.
AEW has a strong women’s division – that’s a fact that cannot be argued. But it’s hard to find an individual ready to take the TBS Championship from Mercedes Mone in a compelling story. Tony Khan doesn’t need to look far though. Just look at Thursdays and on the internet where he’s kept Athena for far too long. She’s the woman ready to set AEW ablaze by taking that title from one of the biggest names in wrestling.
Volvo is currently in the midst of a major transition that will see the company fully embrace electrification over the coming decade. Part of that shift includes the addition of the ES90, a new mid-size luxury electric sedan that will be positioned alongside the gas-burning S90.
While many mainstream automakers continue to trend away from sedans as SUV and truck sales continue to surge, Volvo has been a stalwart competitor in the premium sedan segment. The ES90 will live next to the existing S90 in the Swedish brand’s lineup for at least a couple of years as Volvo evaluates if sedan shoppers are ready to make the switch to electricity.
The ES90 will ride on the same SPA2 platform as the larger EX90 EV SUV, which also underpins the sportier Polestar 3. That means the sedan will likely share the same 111.0-kWh battery pack and an electric driving range in the ballpark of 300 miles or more.
While Volvo hasn’t confirmed any powertrain specifics, we can use the EX90 SUV as a guide. The SUV features a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup that offers 402- and 510-horsepower variants. While an all-wheel-drive version is a given, the ES90 could add a rear-wheel-drive single-motor setup as well.
The luxury EV sedan segment is growing crowded, and the ES90 will face competitors like the BMW i5, Genesis Electrified G80, Lucid Air, Mercedes-Benz EQE, and Tesla Model S. The Afeela 1, from Sony and Honda’s joint venture, also joins the fray in 2026.
