Athena discussed Maya World’s path to an AEW contract during a recent interview with Denise Salcedo. She described seeing potential in World on the Texas independent scene, then pushing her to sharpen her presentation and get opportunities in front of AEW decision-makers.
“Maya was one of the first women in the Texas area that I avidly went after. I saw her on a show and I was like, ‘Man, there’s something there.’ There’s something really special that came to mind, the way she moved, the way she performed. She was just missing a couple of beats so I invited her to come train with me.”
“I remember being like, ‘Yo, TK, you got to see this girl.’ … ‘Give her a match with me, let me show you what she can do.’ … They kept bringing her back and bringing her back, it just took that one step.”
Athena said she kept challenging World to improve before the contract offer arrived.
“Girl, we’ve got to get you new gear … we’ve got to work on your promos. We’ve got to work on this, we’ve got to work on that.”
“Soon enough, when the moment came, she took advantage of an opportunity and she ended up with a contract.”
Athena also recalled World calling her late at night with the news.
“She called me like at like 2 AM. She called me like six times and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this must be an emergency, what’s going on?’ … She’s like, ‘I got signed, they offered me a contract.’ I just like cried because I was like, oh, thank goodness she did it.”
“She’s very eager to learn. I was just so happy for her in that moment. I was just like, ‘Oh my god, you did it.’”
Source: Athena’s Denise Salcedo interview, via Fightful’s transcription.
