AEW women’s division star Red Velvet recently spoke with the AEW Unrestricted podcast ahead of her big mixed tag team matchup with Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, and NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal, which will be airing on this Wednesdays edition of Dynamite on TNT. Highlights from her interview can be found below.
Says she’s focused on big tag team match featuring Shaq:
“Well, of course in-ring training just to keep my cardio going and stuff like that. Mentally, I’m trying to get myself ready because it was a big thing to not let myself get caught up in how big this match is gonna be or who’s in the match or how much attention the match is gonna get. So, I’m trying to mentally disconnect from all of that and just focus on the task at hand.”
How she reacted when she found out she’d be replacing Brandi Rhodes:
“I was definitely stoked because this is the biggest match to date of my career. So, that was an excitement. I was definitely grateful for the opportunity. They say when one door closes, one door opens. With Brandi stepping into the beautiful journey of motherhood, I think it was only right for me to step in and have her back. I’m excited to finally shut Jade [Cargill] up because all I’ve seen her do is run her mouth. So, I’m excited to see if she’s really gonna throw down in the ring and see what she’s about.”
Reflects on trying out for WWE Tough Enough back in 2015:
“I stepped away from wrestling before that because I was training to become a professional dancer. So, dance took over my life, and I had stopped watching wrestling. Then I flipped the channel, and you have Triple H making the announcement that they are doing Tough Enough. Anybody can do it, you don’t have to be a professional wrestler, you just have to show that you’re tough enough. So, I went on and did the YouTube video, and it took off. They showed it twice on SmackDown. I remember somebody woke me up to the video footage of my video. And then I had a follow-up Skype interview with a producer. So, I had made it through round one, and then she asked me to send over some professional photos. At the time, I didn’t have any professional photos. I had like selfies. I had selfie-type, which were horrible. So, I didn’t make it on the show, but I think I’m a big believer of everything happens for a reason. That was I think the bullet point that stuck for me to start wrestling. Then after, it just took off, and people were like ‘Why don’t you do it? You should do it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you know, you’re right.’ So, I started looking up schools. I didn’t even know wrestling schools existed. I had never thought about how people became wrestlers. When you see these celebrities, it almost feels like something that is so far that you don’t even know how to get there. Yeah, it’s unobtainable…..I think not making it on the show was the best thing that happened because it opened up my eyes to how much potential I had to become a wrestler. And then I joined the school and started wrestling.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)