Anna Jay signed with AEW and soon found herself recruited to the Dark Order—hear how that happened, how she keeps a straight face when filming BTE with John Silver and more. Anna’s also talking about training at the Nightmare Factory with QT Marshall, tagging with Tay Conti, Jerry Lynn’s impact on her development and AEW career to date—and learning the sleeper hold from Arn Anderson. She remembers bonding with her dad over wrestling, the promos he used to cut on her as a kid and the inspiration for the “Star Of The Show.” And, she answers fan questions about Brodie Lee and the AEW Women’s World Championship.
Sleeper Hold on Brandi Rhodes on DYNAMITE
“I remember whenever they told me that’s what I was going to do, Arn Anderson was there explaining how to do it and showing me the hold and everything… I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Arn Anderson is showing me how to do a sleeper! What is my life right now?’ The whole thing was super cool, and I’m very lucky to have that spot, something I’ll always remember. Brandi is great, and it was awesome!”
The Dark Order
“I feel like I have a bunch of brothers backstage. I grew up with two brothers, and it’s kind of like [Dark Order] really fits me, and it’s great having them in the back. First off, they’re hilarious! Plus, I can always ask them for advice, you know a lot of them obviously have a lot more experience than I do—Brodie especially and John Silver, too. I think he’s been wrestling for 15 years.”
The Queen Slayer
“I didn’t know that was going to happen either. It just happened whenever I walked out, and Brodie was introducing me on DYNAMITE. He said, ‘Queen Slayer,’ and I was like, ‘Oh me? Okay!’”
Jerry Lynn
“Every time that I would have a match, he would tell me little things that I could work on, and it just really meant a lot to me because I never went to him. I didn’t really know who to go to other than the person who was coaching my match. So he would always come up to me and say, ‘Hey, you can do this next time.’ And every time I would listen, and it would really help because it’s the little details that matter.”