Mariah May opens up about signing with AEW.
May had been featured in STARDOM, but fans started buzzing about her potentially signing with AEW over the summer. She appeared on the November 8 episode of AEW Dynamite, and the company announced that she had officially signed.
Mariah May discussed how her AEW deal came together during a recent appearance on AEW Unrestricted. She recalled how she talked to the company while she was with STARDOM. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“I was in STARDOM, I had just done the big pay-per-view, All Star Grand Queendom and I did commentary on it, which actually got me a big buzz, doing commentary,” Mariah May said. “I had been wrestling there for maybe four or five months, and then AEW reached out and Tony reached out. They enjoyed what I was doing and they wanted me to come to AEW, which I was very surprised. I didn’t think I was ready to go to America, to be on TV, I just didn’t know where it came from.
“I really wanted to go. But for me, going to STARDOM and Japan, that was something I wanted when I started training and I felt like I was just scratching the surface of what I could do and how I could grow as a performer, especially in ring. I said, ‘I really want to come, I can’t believe you guys want me, but I do want to finish off things I want to do in Japan.'”
Mariah May On Waiting To Come To AEW
Mariah May then stated that she competed in the 5-Star Grand Prix, and she learned a lot throughout the experience. She stated that, in doing so, she believed she would have even more to offer AEW when she made the move. May also made it clear that she wanted to properly finish off her chapter in STARDOM.
“So, I did the 5-Star Grand Prix,” she said. “That was such an amazing experience and I learned so much and I improved so much, so now when I come to AEW, I have a lot more to offer than I did in May. That was our original conversation and we talked about ideas and I was really excited.
“I was in Japan, doing what I was doing, but AEW…it was a lot happening in my mind of, I’m really excited about this next step, but I wanted to finish off this chapter I had in STARDOM.”
Mariah May On Keeping AEW Signing A Secret
Mariah May was also asked to discuss keeping her signing a secret. She emphasized that she did not tell anyone, but the news eventually leaked. May noted that she waited to tell some of the wrestlers she worked with.
“I didn’t tell anybody, I guarded that secret with my life. [But] I saw it leak. I actually woke up in the middle of the night in Japan. At the time it leaked, it was like 5 AM. I remember waking up, picking up my phone, and I never had that many notifications in my life. Some of the girls asked. ‘Mariah. Maybe AEW?’ ‘Ah, no.’ [Laughs]. Obviously, STARDOM is run by Rossy [Rossy Ogawa], who I have a very good relationship with. I felt bad not telling him. But somebody, I’m not going to name names, but somebody in the staff does leak stuff about the westerners in particular about where they’re going to go, what they’re going to do. I would have a direct conversation with somebody and they would put it on the dirtsheets.
“I shutdown my merch store. Tthe exact conversation I had about it ended up on the dirtsheets. I really wanted to be very honest with Rossy because I have a lot of respect for him, but I couldn’t tell him until literally the day I was going to debut. [So] I sent him a message and thanked him and let him know I was going to AEW. He would instantly be like, ‘Mariah can’t come back next year, she’s going to AEW,’ and then it would all leak so I had to really keep it a secret. I had to keep it to myself and then towards the end, I let some of the girls know.”
Though May has yet to compete on AEW television, she frequently appears alongside AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm.
