Ariane Andrew was recently interviewed by Wrestling Inc. to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Including her return to the ring for the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament, where she teamed up with Nyla Rose against Anna Jay and Tay Conti.
Here are the highlights:
Preparing for the match:
So that’s the crazy thing because I feel like the response is definitely positive compared to back in the day where literally the wrestling community is ripping me a new a–hole, but I actually had not been training at all, except for preparing for the match for Effy’s ‘Big Gay Brunch.’ I was trained by Rikishi’s school. I decided to take it upon myself to go back to obviously train.
Was doing a little bit of that. It was just such a small like stint because I had gotten super busy with everything else I was working on, and then Corona hit, so I literally had not stepped in the ring probably since January. And that was only for a little bit. So it’s crazy when people are like, ‘wow, she’s improved.’ I was like little do people know I have less than a week when everything even happened with AEW.
I literally went out with zero training. We didn’t get to go over anything except for the finish. So literally it was like I am praying to Jesus Christ and the universe that I do not f–k this up because I know people are waiting for me to fail. So that’s actually the real, and I don’t think most people know that because like, ‘oh, yeah, she’s been training.’ I’m like, ‘no, I haven’t’ because I just a back in the ring in January, and then coronavirus. So it’s like I wasn’t training.
Almost turning down the appearance:
Brandi actually reached out to me, and like I said, it was super last minute. At the time, I was visiting my boyfriend in Phoenix, so I was like, OK, I gotta get back to LA. Corona is happening. So I have to get back. I have no gear. My weave is falling off. I haven’t gotten my weave done, and I almost said no because I felt like I wasn’t prepared.
And again, out of all the projects I do, wrestling scares me the most because I know I didn’t have much training, and I know how particular fans are. And I just wanted to make sure that I succeed it. So I was like, I just need more time, but in life, when things happen, when are you ever really prepared? So it’s like, you know what, I’m going to go out there and regardless of what happens, regardless of what people think, I’m doing something for me. It’s not for fans.
It’s not for [the] management team and what they think. I’m doing it for myself because I really truly do have a passion for the ring, and I missed it. And I was like, you know what, maybe this never happens again, and I never want to look back at life and regret it. No matter what the outcome was going to be.
Working with Nyla Rose:
She’s amazing. Actually, everybody in the AEW world is super welcoming, which [was] another thing I was scared about because I was like, ‘how are people going to feel with me being here? It was just a completely different environment of what I was used to. So to be able to work with her, I think, was super cool because she is a top person in the division, and I think it was very fitting for her storyline of what she represents as being in that beast mode. At first I was like well, this is a very interesting dynamic. I’m very sassy, and that’s my character. She’s very like, I’m going to f–k a b–ch up. So I was like, ‘I wonder how this is gonna play out,’ but it worked out like how it was supposed to work out. I think it worked out good.
Also Read: Ariane Andrew Comments On The Differences & Similarities of Working With WWE and AEW
