Sadie Gibbs looks back on her brief stint with AEW.
The pro-wrestling star was released by the company during the COVID-19 outbreak due to her being unable to enter the country. However, Gibbs says that even when she did ink a deal with AEW she started suffering from imposter syndrome because she felt like she didn’t belong. She detailed this during a recent interview with WrestleZone.
I think the moment I got to All Elite Wrestling, I had this imposter syndrome all of the sudden. I was so confident up to that point with everything I was doing, I had so much self belief. I was like nothing was going to stand in my way, I love this too much, I’ve got so much drive and passion. But the moment I got signed, it was like this imposter [thing where I thought], what are you doing here, you don’t deserve this. Then obviously like I said, the lockdown kicked in the release and I think over time, that mentality just got a little worse through lockdown and then I just found myself getting back on my feet gradually. I went to [a place] a couple of times and managed to get there and do Helium retreats. I just really went within and focused on myself and healing and since that, I feel like a different person going back into it if that makes sense. [I feel] more self aware, more grounded, I don’t think I was very grounded before. They say you need to create your environment in order to thrive, and I feel like I’ve got my roots now.
Gibbs is happy to have had the experience but acknowledges that she was not ready to be put on television when she had signed with AEW.
In terms of being ready, I know I had worked hard for that position, but I think my experience, before going to TV, wasn’t ready. But then, when is anyone ready for anything when you get a step up? I work well under pressure, but I think maybe it was my mindset. I would say my mindset wasn’t ready at the time because of everything that I had gone through and was going through at the time. Grief and trauma is different for everybody and we all need our own time to heal. I would say, if I could have done a little bit more time out in Japan and finished that off, maybe I would have had that experience because you’re training a lot, I would have felt a lot more confident in going there. My confidence just went as soon as I got signed, so for me it was maybe a bit too soon. Hence why I was planning on moving because I felt I could train more, I could be in the Nightmare Factory. Yeah, that was my plan. That’s why I made that decision to move, because I needed the experience, I wanted the experience.
Last month Gibbs got engaged to her longtime partner, and shared the exciting news on social media. You can read about that here, or check out her full WrestleZone interview below.
