Taya Valkyrie is ecstatic to be in AEW.
The former longest reigning Impact Knockouts Champion discussed this topic during a recent interview on Insight With Chris Van Vilet, where she reflected on her debut for the promotion back in March. Valkyrie says she was a bit nervous before making her surprise entrance, but felt grateful that her home country of Canada gave her a large ovation.
I mean, I was a little bit nervous. I was like, please Canada, please, please be there for me. Like, please cheer for me. You know, you never know, you always have those second guesses, like, are they gonna know who I am? Like, I don’t know. And they were there for me. So, I’m forever grateful. And Winnipeg, thank you very much.
It had been speculated that Valkyrie could be going to AEW but her eventual appearance was a surprise. Valkryie explains the lengths that AEW went through to keep her debut a secret.
Yeah. So, I flew in and was actually flying on like the same flight as a bunch of people coming from LA like The Bucks and everybody. And like, as soon as we got to the Winnipeg airport to get off the plane, like I have put a hat on, I put a mask on, and like tried to like, cover myself up because like, as soon as you walked off, I walked off, like down the escalator and there are fans everywhere. Yeah, I don’t exactly blend in. So, I had to like really cover up and then, they actually had me staying at a different hotel than all of the other people on the roster. So that was a secret hotel, secret location, had a secret SUV pick me up and bring me to the secret backdoor. And yeah, that’s how it went. Everyone is like, Oh my God what are you doing here?! And I’m like surprise! Yeah, so I had a few friends that knew what was going on, but things happen so quickly and sometimes it is more fun to keep it a secret. I love surprising people, and I will lie on a podcast or two to get the surprise to, you know, to work out perfectly. I was so excited that people that were excited to see me, the crowd was great, Tony has been fantastic and amazing to me from day one. And yeah, I am just very happy to be there.
Valkyrie will be challenging the undefeated Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship at this Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. You can check out the latest card for the event here.
(Special thanks to Chris Van Vilet for sending us quotes)