The latest guest on the AEW Unrestricted podcast was company star Julia Hart, who spoke with the show hosts about a wide range of pro-wrestling-related topics, including her decision to join the House of Black and how sick she was of her previous cheerleader gimmick with the Varsity Blonds. Highlights from the interview are below.
How her heel turn took months:
“Oh my gosh, I was sitting on those stairs for months. I actually didn’t know, I didn’t [know if it was ever gonna happen]. I was like I’m just gonna keep doing me and hopefully we have to do something with this. I’m not gonna let this go to waste, this was a big moment. When it happened, when Malakai misted me, I was like ‘I think I want to do something different.’ Him misting me could create a whole story of me joining the House Of Black. I think I told Jerry Lynn, I was like ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if I joined House Of Black?’. He was like ‘I think that would be cool.’ At the time, I wasn’t very close with Malakai and he’s a very intimidating presence as it is, not in a bad way but in a good way. I wanted to tell him but I didn’t know how he’d [perceive it]. So I told Jerry and I guess Jerry told him and he came to me and was like ‘You wanna join House Of Black? Do you like the cheerleading stuff, I thought you liked the cheerleading stuff?”. I was like ‘No, I need something different. I need something new and I need something creative, I love dark shit. I love it all, I’m here for it.’ He was like ‘Oh okay, maybe draw out how’d you see the character and do a promo for me.’ I love promos. I would love to talk more. So I did a promo and I showed him and he was like ‘Oh okay, you have something.’ That was pretty much it. I just kept the eye patch and sat for weeks and waited. I was like ‘When is this ever gonna happen?’ I honestly didn’t know. I was just coming to work and doing my job. I just hoped that one day I could join. I was thinking I want something more and then it turned into what it is now.”
Admits that she was getting sick of her cheerleading schtick:
“Words can’t explain how much I’m obsessed with my new character. I was a competitive cheerleader for six years and you guys, I was so over it. I was so over cheerleading. Being on the sideline and cheering for someone else, I was so sick of it. I wasn’t even creative anymore with it. I did have a lot of ideas of where we could have gone with that, but I just needed something different and new and a different side of me that I can pull from. It’s crazy how being with the House Of Black and how creative everyone is and just being around in that environment of those people. I’m constantly learning from all of them. It’s just such a new environment that I needed [as] a young little rookie. I’m just constantly learning and excited to do things with them. It’s really great. If you would have told me I was joining House Of Black a year ago I would have been like ‘You’re crazy, what?’. It’s just a dream, I love it. I’m obsessed with everything we do.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)