Who Is AEW Star Athena's Husband?

What more can be said about AEW/Ring of Honor star Athena that hasn't already been said? Since joining AEW in May 2022 and ROH shortly thereafter, Athena has become arguably the most dominant wrestler, man or woman, in North America. Her reign as Ring of Honor Women's Champion is now over 1,000 days, making her the longest reigning champion of any kind in ROH history. 2025 also saw her set her sights on AEW gold as well, competing in the Women's Owen Hart tournament, where she came up short against Mercedes Mone, and challenging "Timeless" Toni Storm for the AEW Women's World Championship at Forbidden Door. Combine that with her time as Ember Moon in WWE, and it's quite good to be Athena. Frankly, it may be better than fans know, given that Athena can share her success with a significant other that's all too familiar with wrestling's daily grind.

But while fans may be familiar with all of that, they may not know that Athena's household also features another wrestler, Matthew Palmer. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet shortly after her WWE release, Athena revealed she was only in her second year of wrestling when she met Palmer during a training session; after a contentious start, the two hit it off and eventually got married a decade later in 2018. Beyond that though, not much is known about Palmer, who was not a presence during Athena's WWE tenure and so far hasn't appeared in AEW or Ring of Honor. This would naturally have people asking just how eventful Palmer's wrestling career is, and whether he is even still wrestling. The answer to the latter is yes, and the answer to the former is a lot more than you'd expect.

Much like Athena, Palmer is from Texas and began wrestling in his home state, training under AEW star and Don Callis Family member Lance Archer, who just so happened to be running the aforementioned training session where Palmer and Athena met. And since debuting on March 9, 2008, Palmer hasn't slowed down; the seventeen year veteran has worked at least 409 matches during his career, working for Texas indie promotions such as Anarchy Championship Wrestling, and most notably Metroplex Wrestling, both before and after Athena bought the promotion, alongside Ernie Pruitt in 2022. Palmer has also branched out of his home state, working consistently for Wrestling Revolver over the past few years, even becoming a two time Revolver Champion. 

Given his longevity in the business, Palmer has had the chance to work plenty of well known names; among his highest profile singles opponents on the indies are his former trainer Archer, AEW's Swerve Strickland and "Speedball" Mike Bailey, WWE's Alex Shelley, former AEW star Abadon, and former WWE and TNA star Rich Swann, who Palmer has also teamed with. As such, it's a little surprising that Palmer hasn't gotten a look from either WWE or AEW during his career, making TNA the largest promotion he has ever worked for in any capacity. Palmer's stay in TNA, then Impact Wrestling, was short and eventful, as he debuted in 2021 by defeating Moose in a three minute challenge. Alas, the momentum stalled in his second and final TNA appearance, which saw Moose defeat him in a rematch.