PWE Report Interview with "The Condiut" of Karma Kaia Mckenna

Host Sean Lennon welcomes “The Conduit of Kharma” Kaia Mckenna back on The PWE Report.  She is a graduate of Black and Brave Academy. Currently is the Wrestlemax Women's Champion for 82 days as of this podcast recording, from Ocean City, Maryland.  She made her debut at 2econd Wrestling this past month.

Kaia talked about the last couple of years and how her career in Pro Wrestling evolved, being on the platform of IWTV driving her success, If she would like to see an IWTV Women’s Championship one day, her match at 2econd Wrestling with Shelly “The Bombshell” Benson 2econd Wrestling debut, her thoughts on recent TNA Wrestling signee Maggie Lee also from BXB, her social media presence being consistent with her brand online, winning the WrestleMax Women’s Championship, wrestling for promotions on the east coast like Beyond Pro Wrestling and her favorite matches over there, being part of Dreamwave Wrestling women's matches before Uprising was forged, having Mickie James referee her match at MCW, her matches at Action Wrestling which draws a big house, her time at Black and Brave Academy learning from current WWE Superstar Seth Rollins and Marek Brave, some of her favorite opponents so far, her advice for any pro wrestling trainees that want to make it, plus more! An hour-long conversation with one of my favorite guests on PWE Report!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Sean Lennon. Right now, we welcome back to the Pwe
report that conduit of carrak Kaya mcketta and make sure
to check her out. She's a graduate of Black and
Rave Academy currently is the Russell Macks Women's Champion for
eighty two days as we I am, yes, congrats for that,
and we know that you're from Maryland originally, and you've

(00:22):
also made your way out to Devenport, Iowa.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yes, of course for training and then after I completed
my training, it was easier to get a start in
the Midwest than to you know, for sure already there,
you might as well just kind of get a lay of.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
The land, definitely. I know you know Second Wrestling was
this past Sunday and you had a good time. I
know he saw your match with Shelley Benson, and there'll
be other matches coming up. I know you said March fifteenth,
you have a match. I believe the clash. It's the
point against the first time matchup.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Leah is a powerhouse. She is very intense. It's going
to be a very tough matchup and I am so
looking forward to it. I love opponents that challenged me,
like physically as well as like the mental game as well,
So I'm very excited about wrestlingly. I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yes, Yes, and you also have the Gabby for Focus Wrestling.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, I have wrestling Gabby Fororza Focus Pro in Braintream, Massachusetts,
which is outside of Boston. I have never wrestled Gabby
in a singles I've been in a triple threat with her,
so I'm very excited to get a singles match with
her again. You want to talk about opponents that are
just very like physically imposing and strong. It's it's like
a challenge for me, you know. Sure, it's different. I'm

(01:39):
used to being the biggest, strongest person and like I'm
taller than Gabby, but like I am definitely not stronger
than her. So I'm gonna have to go to the
playbook here, go to the grimoire and see how I
can squash an home.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
I know she's like a juggernaut. It is like Joan Grace.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Last time we wrestled, she speared me, and she speared
me so hard I bounced through the bottom middle rope
into the row of chairs. Oh she is so intense.
Oh wow, It's hard to even prepare for an opponent
like that. You know, you just have to stay focused
and weather the storm.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
For sure. Well, why, I know how you're doing, and
you're one of my favorite people that I'm pew a. Yeah,
so it's so glad to have you on.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, thank you. I'm glad we're finally getting a chance
to talk. I know we've been trying to get this
interview on the books for a few weeks, but it's
been a hectic winner for everyone. So I'm glad they're
definitely here, and I'm glad I finally got to come
back to the Midwest and wrestle for you while at
Second Wrestling this past weekend. I missed all of the
fans in the Midwest so much. You guys were very
kind to me when I first started, so it was
great to come back. It's like my second home.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Most Yeah, for sure, we'd love to see you in
the ring, and even if you're just around, we'd love
to see you as well.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
You know, I love to hang out, I love wrestling
whether watching it, so.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah, I know we had seen you at GCW a
couple like a couple of years ago, but it's been
a while.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
So Yeah, when I was rehabbing my injury. I did
a lot of backstage help at GCW, mainly to just
stay around the business and still see my friends, because
when you're out hurt, you don't you know, you're sitting
in your house and you're like, Oh, I'm sad. Now
I'm stuck in my house and what do I do?
And it was really really nice that they extended me
the opportunity to be a part of their team for

(03:19):
that year while I was rehapping and just kind of
keep me in front of people and keep me in
front of you guys. So forever grateful to Brett for
that little opportunity when I was healing.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yes, for sure, I would love to see you russell
for them one day. I want to be there.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
But I have had a match for GCW before. I
wrestled Hollydad at GCW, and I was also a participant
in the bunk House Brawl at JCW. I brought a
broom and I broke it on Steve Scott's nutsack. You
gotta bring the best weapon right to a bunk house.
And I'm a witch. So if I don't bring a broom,
I'm messing up. But I just have to. I don't

(03:56):
make the the rules.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
No, that's that's perfect. It just fits you so well.
And yeah, and I want to, you know, start if
I ask you, like, the past couple of years, your
career pro wrestling has evolved and you're on these platforms
like IWTV, So how how do you feel that drives
your success?

Speaker 2 (04:13):
It drives your success because it puts pressure on you.
You know, I would probably say before IWTV, before streaming,
before YouTube, there was a lot of opportunity to have
matches that nobody ever saw, and then you could suck
and you could get better and it was okay because
nobody saw you sucking. The pressure of media being the

(04:34):
way it is now makes you want to be on
top of your game all the time because you never
know who's going to see what with everything being so
widely available. So there's definitely a new layer of pressure
with all of the streaming platforms. But I love that
it gives content and it gives access to your matches
to fans that may not be able to come out
and see you in person. So it's like there's positives,
but it also changes the game a little bit, you know.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
For sure. I feel that way as well. I have
an interesting idea I what do you think about this?
Would you like here's an IWTV championship. I don't know
if that's an inner gender it is it is.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
I know Megan Bain has challenged for it as Becca
I believe.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, would you be what would you say the opportunity
if they had an IDOTV women's championship Because there's a
lot of the promotions they don't have a women's division currently.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
I would love that because I think women's wrestling is
so special and I think women's championships are super special
and definitely have a place in this business. I think
that there are plenty of championships that any gender can
compete for, and that's also incredible, but I love the
idea of there being a women's championship across the board.
I think any promotion that has depth in the women
that they are utilizing would benefit from having a women's

(05:44):
championship and running some storylines with the women because I just,
in my humble opinion, think women are very creative. I
think we're great entertainers. We tell great stories, and our
personalities are just so much larger and translates so well
onto crowds, and it's such a miss opportunity to not
have a women's division and a women's championship at your place.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, and I feel like being it with IWTV, it could.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Travel, right, Yeah, that would be that would definitely be
a concept. I mean, I know that's the idea that
the IWTV champion will make belt defenses at other promotions
at stream on IWTV. Correct, So you could defend it beyond,
you could defend it at Action, you could defend it
at Dreamwave. I would love that. I think that would
be so cool if they had a women's championship. But

(06:28):
I also love that they are not afraid to let
women challenge for their overall championship.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay, so cool. Well I guess why not both?

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Why not both?

Speaker 1 (06:41):
For sure? For sure? And what do you think about
your matches Shelley? I mean talk about the Bowchell. Did
you know anything about her before you had this match up?
I have.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
I've squared off with Shelley before in multi women matches,
but never in a single time experience. For me, I
know that she brings a lot of antics and and
that can be very distracting. And no matter how hard
I tried to stay focused, she did eventually distract me.
At the end, and I just I kind of got
a full head of steam and I wasn't focused. You know,
I'd lost my focus. I was letting all of that

(07:13):
frustration drive my thought and I came up a little shorthanded.
But there will be next time, and you can guarantee
I will be extremely focused and I will be walking
away with the wind.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yes, and she's sure and throw her out into the crowd.
Oh yeah, Yeah, she's a stable in Chicago, so she's
working in Florida too, So.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, I've seen her in Florida when I go there,
I work for Shine.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Oh you do, Okay, yep.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
I love that Shine still runs. It's such a good win.
We were just talking about women's promotions in championships. I
love that Shine still runs and creates a lot of
opportunity for women. And I love to see other women wrestlers,
even my adversaries, branching out and getting their names out there.
I think that's really great.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yes, staying here, Tamore, we have those promotions the better. Yes, Yes,
And you know, I feel like you. I enjoyed the
bagyl vibe you shared. I feel like you can tell a.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Good witch bad bitch.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yes, I feel like you and mag Lee. You know
you're both from BxB. I dare say you both could
make an interesting duo as well one day.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
No, perhaps you know it's interesting because I've always been
the good witch, and I am still a good witch
at heart. But there are many ways witches come into
their power.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Some witches are born into their power. I was born
into power. I am a familial witch. Some witches are
gifted their power through other witches. Nobody wanted to gift
me anything. So guess what this switch is taking her
power this year?

Speaker 1 (08:43):
It's fine.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
I am definitely going to send and come into my
own whether you guys like it or not, it's happening definitely.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
And what do you think of mag Lee's attitude? Like
seeing had grown and now she's a Dreamway Woman's champion
from where she started.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
I really admire the amount of hard work that Maggie
puts in, and I admire her athleticism, but she does
not have my whitchy smarts. I am crafty. Pure magic
is something that you're just born with, much like athletic talent.
I'm just born with my magic, and you can't teach magic.
So we each have our gifts, they're a little bit different. First,

(09:20):
hopefully she respects mine. It's been wild to see her trajectory, right,
I'm really happy that she's found the success she's found.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, same here, and it's just an iron Dake appeared
to when she started till now. It seems like so
your social media presence talk about that, you know you're
Do you like being consistent or your brand online kind
of you know, delivering little videos and promos and stuff

(09:50):
like that.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
I do. I really like being able to interact with
my fans through my social media platforms. When I first
started during the pandemic, it was a great way for
to connect and build a fan base, even though there
weren't as many shows when I was injured is At
it was a great way for me to stay in
touch with my fans. And as I've mounted my comeback
and come into my own it has been great to
take them along for the ride and make it easy

(10:13):
for them to access all of my content and my dates.
So I really love social media. I kind of garnered
my following when spaces were very big, and I would
host a space called The Witching Hour, and it was
just basically me occupying myself on these long drives I
was doing solo, but I got to meet and connect
with a lot of really great fans and people through
those spaces, and I might have to bring them back

(10:34):
someday soon.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
For sure.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
That was really what started it. And I'm so grateful
that I have such supportive fans because when I look
at my posts, when I look at my photos, when
I look at my clips, it's fans that are watching them,
and fans that are enjoying them, and fans that are
interacting with them. And I think there's something special about that,
to have such an invested fan base, you.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Know, for sure.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
I mean I like that that I don't like. I mean, yeah,
you know, you like you like when other wrestlers like
your stuff, right, Like that feels. But I really think
there's something special that most of my engagement comes from
a fan base that I have created. And I love
you guys so much for that. It makes me feel
like such a special little witchy.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, definitely, we love we love seeing your content, and uh,
you know, like I said, you're consistent with it as well.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, you have to be you have to be consistent.
You don't want to like oversaturate and overwhelm people, because
it's very easy to do that. But you want to
be consistent. You don't want people to forget that you're there.
You want to be like a gentle nudge each day.
So I just try to like give a little piece
of my life each day, just a little bit with
you guys, so everybody's always involved. I love it. I
think it's a great tool.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
I think it was last year you did.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
I was a fun matchup. Shane's in the game for
a minute. Yes, you want to talk about a total legend,
And it's always a privilege and an honor to step
into the ring with someone who is that tenured and
that good and crisp right. You learn so much from
somebody like that. And I had such an absolute blast
wrestling Shane Hollister. He was an incredible opponent.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
The victory as well, so I did.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
I'm telling you, it's that magic, you know, all these
sneaky little pins, all these sneaky little holds, you know,
and sometimes it's like what's in your rolodex, what's in
your mind? Like how many resources can you pull from
to be successful?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
You know?

Speaker 2 (12:23):
So I just try to have a very broad grimoire
the things I can pull from and change depending on
the opponent.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Right, for sure, you gonna want to rematch the road maybe.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, it's good to be a little unpredictable, and it's
good to be adaptable because if you have your thing
that you do and you do it all the time,
people can study you and they can learn how to
overcome you. But if you're constantly learning and you're changing
and you're evolving, and you're pulling from a million different
influences and inspirations, you're very hard to predict and it
makes people like, it makes it harder for people to
defeat you, you know, it makes you a bigger challenge,

(12:56):
even if you're not even if you don't like a
physical advantage, right, like maybe you're not the tallest or
the strongest or the biggest, but you have so much
information that you can pull from to make yourself successful.
So that's kind of how I've crafted my particular style
of wrestling is just being unpredictable.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Definitely, And I think that you're you're also unpredictable in
terms of when you win championship belts. You had a
big championship victory out of Russell Max.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
As been attempting to win that belt for quite some time,
but I kept falling victim to a lot of the
shanigans from Nixi and Shaza, and then you know, at
the Universe, everything just aligned, it all fell into place.
She had no backup. She could not run. If she
got counted out, she lost the title. So she had
to face me.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
In the ring.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
And when push came to shove, her back was against
the wall. She couldn't get it done. But I did,
and I hold that title so proud. I love it.
I am such a proud champion. I cannot wait to
make my first defense when Russell Max comes back late
this spring.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Oh not me too. And I know that you've also
wrestled at the Turner Hall and Milwaukee, right Russell Max.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Hall in Illinois?

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yes, okay, did you have a show there in Milwaukee
for Wreussell Max.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
No, I have never wrestled in Wisconsin. Oh you know
has eluded me.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
Okay, you know it's probably me thinking it was a
different venue. When I started this Turner Hall, I was like, Oh,
that's that's in Milwaukee. I'm gonna go check it out.
I would have went there and there would be nothing
going on now talk about you know, you've made these
appearances on promotions on the East Coast. You've had beyond wrestling,

(14:38):
and let's tell of your favorite matches you had over
there on the East Coast.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
Oh, my goodness, I've had so many. One of my
favorite I've always tald about one of my favorite opponents
on the East Coast. I love getting to get in
the ring and mix it up with Ella Envy because
she's a little unpredictable too. You know, she's very good,
but she's just such She's a larger than life personality,
and she has such a big attitude and like that
can very overwhelming. And I've really enjoyed the challenge of

(15:02):
having to have match after match after match and see
who comes out on top each time, because I think
we have a lot from each other and she's just
an incredible opponent. I've had matches with her at PWF,
the Premier Wrestling Federation in North Carolina. I've also faced
off with her in Action Wrestling. She's definitely one of
my favorite East Coast opponents. Nice cool, Yeah, it's you know,
I really I enjoy a lot of my matches. I

(15:25):
really made it a goal for myself to try to
wrestle as many different people as possible, because as a
woman in wrestling, it is very easy to get stuck
having the same match with the same four or five
people right all the time, and I didn't want that
for myself. I wanted to challenge myself and work all
sorts of people all over this country. So something that
has been nice about getting to work in the Midwest

(15:45):
and the South and Florida, in the mid Atlantic and
the Northeast and New England has been the variety of
opponents that I've been able to face and everything I've
learned from them.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Definitely, you've had a lot of different opponents.

Speaker 2 (15:58):
So, Yeah, I gotta get up to the West coast
twenty twenty five. That's my goal in Vegas once before,
but I really would like to do a California or
maybe a Pacific Northwest state this year. That's a big
goal for me to try to staturate.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, are you heading for the Vegas I'm sorry, Are
you heading there for many a weekend?

Speaker 2 (16:17):
Or I am heading there for media weekend? I am
wrestling on pot air dose.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Okay, nice, very excited.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
It will be Friday at noon at the FSW.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
Building awesome, awesome. An you any opponent.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
I'm tagging with Britney Brooks against, I'm sorry, give me
one moment, no worries, man, I should be more prepared,
I guess, because it's a couple of weeks out. You know,
I try to focus on the two weeks ahead of me,
like I'm always of what I have, but I really

(16:54):
when I have big matchups coming up, I really just
try to stay focused on what is directly in front
of me in the coming tear sense, and then I
can like reevaluate and see where I'm at. I can
figure out what I learned from those matches. Okay, I
am wrestling. Let's see. Britney Brooks and I are tagging
against Joseline Navarro and Maya World. And I have never

(17:14):
wrestled Joselyne or Maya, so I'm very excited. I have
wrestled Brittany in scrambles, but I've never had her as
a tag partner. But we have really awesome pink gear,
so I think there's like some good energy that's going
to happen. Yes, vibes, I'm really excited to see the
chemistry we have. And you know, the challenge of Maya
and Joseline. There are no slouches. Those girls work hard. Yeah,

(17:34):
so should be a great match.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Oh yeah, I think so as well. I mean, Britney
Brooks has just been stellid of all the things she's
been doing.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yeah, she's everywhere. Do you want to talk about We
were talking about getting out right and how I've been
working everywhere. She's another person who has really been saturating
and getting her name out there, and there's just something
admirable about that hustle.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
For sure. She's a big part of the Dreamwave Women's
Championship or division, not currently part of a title picture.
I guess she's in the mix. So hopefully we'll see
you guys get the victory there.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, her manifesting a big win in Vegas.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
And then you know, you've also came back to Illinois.
You were part of the Dreamwave wrestling early on. We
had these women matches before the Uprising was like really forged.
So you feel like you were a part of what
would eventually be Uprising.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I do, but I don't because I'm not actually a
part of Uprising, and I've not had an opportunity to
be on one of those shows. Yet I do think
that part of the reason for that is after I
had been on Dreamwave a couple of shows, I realized
I needed to move to a different region of this
country and wrestle some different people if I wanted to
continue to grow. So I've been a little bit out
of pocket for them, and I totally get that that's

(18:49):
not their fault, that's not my fault, just the nature
of the beasts. But maybe in twenty twenty five I
can make a return to Dreamwave. I know when they
were having the scrambles for their number one contendership for
the women's Championship, I didn't get pinned in either one
of those.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yes, I remember, Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
What's up. Maybe there's some opportunity for me in the future. Yeah,
I do like what they're doing. Like again, I'm all
for women having more places and more opportunities. So I
think that that's great that that exists for girls predominantly
in the Midwest.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I would like to see you you get an
opportunity there. We're seeing another Midwesterner that we hold dear
Blair Onyx and you talk about Blair because I know
she can.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Talk about Blair. I am a huge Blair onyx Fane. Hey,
we're just talking about hustle with Brittany, right. Blair is
someone who is always hustled, and she is always known
when she needs to go back to the drawing board
and like reinvent herself and approach things differently and work harder.
And like I said, I admire people like that. I
admire people that are always working toward their goal and

(19:52):
evolving themselves and just getting better every time you see them.
And I just I think she's very special. I think
what she brings to wrestling not a lot of people have.
You can't teach it, you know. We were talking about
people that are born with things, right, like born with
my magic, Like she is born with this charisma that
you just don't see. You know, you have plenty of
people in wrestling who are very physically gifted, or you know,

(20:16):
they look great, whatever. But to have someone that truly
understands their gimmick and what they're trying to do and
how to project and translate that to an audience is
such a special thing. And I just really love her.
I think she's so cool, and I love her gimmick
and I love just seeing what she's going to do next.
But Big BLACKX fan definitely.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
I know you too had a match as well.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
I've had a couple of matches with Blair. She's one
of my favorite comments. You know, I've actually tagged with
Blair too.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
Okay, big Spooky Girls nice. Yeah, So she's really just
changed everything, so I you know, it's really cool to
see where she's come from and kind of like take
a darker tone with her character.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, well you have to, you have to. You don't
have to completely change, right because a lot of us
on the indies are still like fledglings, and there's no
reason to completely reinvent just yet because we've not fully
committed to the first thing we're trying or the second
part's trying, right, So you don't necessarily need to be
like the full on Jericho path just yet when you're on.
But I really like how she has like this subtle

(21:15):
evolution to her character where she's still true to what
she's trying to do, but she's just ramping it up
each time, like it becomes more flushed out, more detailed,
or like more dark, more spooky, or more lighthearted, Like
she knows the different gearshifts she can hit and I
think we should all aspire to be like that, not
necessarily evolve out of who we are and change it up,

(21:35):
but figure out what that next level is that we're
trying to hit, and how do we add that next
layer of dimension to the characters we portray in the ring?

Speaker 1 (21:42):
For sure. Yeah, when she came out looking like that
with Devin Monroe, it was like, oh, oh, okay.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Something ready to happen here now. And Devon is extremely
talented as well, Like, yes, you want to talk about
another individual who really knows what they do and they
do it very well. So nothing sure about Devon.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
And you had Mickey James referee one of your matches.
So when you had Mickey James involved, were you like,
how was like that having her involved and being a
bad ring? But how much fun was that for you?

Speaker 2 (22:17):
It was a lot of fun. I remember watching Mickey
James when I was a little bit younger. I just
think she's incredible. She's an incredible coach. Prior to that match,
I did a two day camp with her and I
had just come back from my injuries, so like it
was still a little bit like still a little bit
like cold feet and like gun shy and She really
helped me find my confidence again and believe in myself.
And I learned so much from her about just how

(22:39):
to be intense and how to move with intent. I
just think she's vastly underrated as a wrestling coach. Yeah,
where she's really just an incredible human and has a
great mind for this business and anyone that can sit
under her learning tree should take full advantage of it
at all times.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Oh yeah, for sure, especially with you know, her probably
having a big connection to we again and not being
a accessible.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
Well yeah, and just like her tenure, right, you don't
typically find people that have her tenure and her experience
that are that kind and giving with their knowledge. You know,
there's something that's very very special, and it's always a
privilege to get that from someone, right, Someone's willing to
share this experiences with you and share that advice and
help lift you up so big. Mickey James too. I

(23:24):
love Mickey, I do, I really do.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
That's great. And you had Action Wrestling now you had
mentioned that match that show. You had a big crowd
here this year, and you also had last year. You
had a big crowd with your magic.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Raws, crazy crowds. I've seen Action outdraw like GCW and
Revolver and other big indies. I've seen them out through
the streamwave like I've seen actually put six seven, eight
hundred people in their buildings down there in the South.
They are, without a shadow of about the top indie
in the Southeast.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Definitely. I know you one of the.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Top indies in the country because how many people are
drawing those kinds of crowds that are that rabbit and
that enthusiastic for the product right No, Action is incredible.
I feel privileged to be a part of it. I
really do. I think Matt is an incredible promoter. He's
an incredible booker. He has a great mind for what
works and what doesn't. He knows how to make his

(24:21):
fans happy. He knows how to keep his wrestlers happy.
Action is really awesome, Like it's a great promotion. If
you've never watched anything from Action, I definitely encourage you
to do so.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Oh yeah, I've watched their matches and you had to
match with Kitlin Marie there and very exciting. You've had
Billy Starks.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Yeah, it was like my second match back from injury
and I wrestled Billy and I was like, oh my gosh,
pressure because Billy is just incredible. You know, it's like,
oh my god, Okay, can I do this? And then
it's like you find that you can, you know, So
that match will always be special to me because I
really just needed to have a really good match coming
back from all of like the adversity, and a match

(25:03):
that I definitely needed. So it's a hell of an opponent, man, Like,
she does not stop when she comes at you. She
just comes at you like it is rapid fire, and
it is a very tough storm to weather.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
And that's why she's at where she's at, right, I guess.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
Oh, yeah, Well that's just years and years of hard
work and dedication, you know, and not getting discouraged or
getting distracted, but really knowing what you want and being
laser focused on it.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Right.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
See her reach that level of success is so great
because I saw how hard she was working, Especially when
I was doing work at GCW and she was there.
I was like, man, like this kid, and I say
kid at the time she was younger, right, I was like,
this kid really wants this. You know. Sometimes, like you
watch wrestling, you're like, does this person really want it?
Do they really care and it's like you watch me
and you're like, she loves this shit, so see her hit.

(25:51):
That level of success is really great. Like I'm so
happy for Billy.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, me too, me too as well. And the Black
and Brave Academy. I wanted to talk about out then
because you are learning under says Rollins, And no he's
no longer to freaking apparently, but you know merk Brave,
so you know, talk about how they cultivate their brand
and now, uh, I guess there rumored to be with
the w I d uh brand as well or adding

(26:19):
that to their to their their their you know, repertoire.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
So like just about the general experience there. Yeah, I
would say that they have a very tough program with
a very high standard. But that is very good and
it is much needed these days. I think there are
it's good that people can go to wrestling school and
it's there's more access than ever before, but there still
needs to be a standard that we meet and Black

(26:44):
and Brave upholds that and I love that. Like I
don't think wrestling should be easy. I don't think it's
something that anybody should be able to do. I think
they want to do this. You need to put the
work in, and you need to put the work in
to be good, and Seth and Merrick have a very
high expectation of their students, but pressure is privilege, So
I love that their program is challenging. It's probably one

(27:05):
of the hardest things I've ever done in my life,
but I came out so much better on the other side,
and I feel like it just made me such a good,
versatile wrestler that just had super solid fundamentals and understood
what I needed to do in twelve weeks and like, yeah,
I had to keep training, and like we all get
better with time, but the foundation that they give you

(27:26):
to build off of is so invaluable, Like it's incredible,
Like they really have figured out the perfect formula to
create superstars.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
For sure. We've seen a lot of their wrestlers go
on and make a big career for the girls.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Lots of girls from that school. I think that's something
that doesn't get the attention that it should, is the
amount of successful female students that Black and Brave turns
out because they're endless wrestling schools with endless students, but
it's still predominantly male most places, and Black Grave has
turned out many many talented students. I mean we were

(27:58):
just talking about Blair and Maggie, Amina Belmont, Heather Reckless, Like,
oh my gosh, there's so many of us, right, Yeah,
how many schools really have that depth in their female
student pool. So I'm like, really proud of us black
and brave girls.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Oh yeah you should.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
I hope you all get together and sometime.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah we're buddies, yes, group chat, catch a burger and
a beverage every now and then together. So but it's
a good a team that supports each other.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
And then when your approach with a promotion, and do
you have like an input like oh you want to
be a heel or a face, you have preference and
why maybe depending on where you're at.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
It's definitely circumstantial and situational. But I think there's value
in being able to do both. You need to be
able to show dimension as a performer. You need to
be able to show range, because if you box yourself
in and you only do one thing, or you can
only do one or two things, then that diminishes your
value because it limits where you can be used. So
I always try to show up with an open mind

(29:03):
and look at my situation and go what makes the
most sense to do tonight and what are the fans
going to enjoy? You know. And there's a lot of
inside baseball that goes into that, and we don't need
to get into all of that, but I think that
there's something to be said for being able to like
assess the need and then meet the need, you know.
So I'm always down to just meet the need right

(29:23):
or do what needs to be done right. I'm the
conduit of karma. I bring balance to this realm of wrestling.
If I got to be a good witch, sometimes I
got to be a good witch, but then sometimes I
got to be a bad bitch. It just depends on
the situation, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yes for sure, for sure. And when you've had opponents
for different reasons, why would they be your favorite?

Speaker 2 (29:47):
Just sometimes like they're just people that you get in
the ring with and it's like butter, it's very easy,
it comes together very easy, and you're all on the
same page. And it's not even speaking to a skill
level thing, because there are times where it's like everybody's
pretty skilled, but it's just like gears and maybe there's
no reason why it's just the chemistry is not there.
And chemistry is such a weird thing because I don't

(30:09):
always think it's a tangible thing, right, So I do
think it's just the chemistry of working well together, and
that isn't necessarily because someone's better, you're both good, or
someone's bad. It's just some people make magic. Then sometimes
there are people you should make magic with it and
it doesn't happen. And it's not because you're bad or

(30:30):
they're bad. It's just sometimes it's not the right matchup.
So I do think that it's just a very special
thing when you find those opponents like Blair or like
Ella that you always have magical matches with. You know,
it's a special thing. And I'm sure every wrestler has
those people that they just really enjoy working with.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
Definitely, And when you go before your match, like what
is the emotions going through your body before your music hits?

Speaker 2 (30:56):
I'm kind of quiet. I really. Like I said, wrestling
is very mental for me. I try to visualize what
I'm going to do, what's my plan of attack? You know,
what are my what's my plan? What is my plan? B?
My plans? See? What are what resources do I have?
For tonight, I really try to take a moment and
just become very very laser focused, because you cannot be

(31:18):
distracted and you have to be in control of yourself
and your being. If you go out to the ring
and you're not focused and your heart rate is going
crazy and you're anxious, then you're going to mess up.
You're going to lose, you know. So if you want
to win and you want to kick ass, you need
to be able to hone in. So I always just

(31:38):
take those five or ten minutes before I go out
to make sure I am very honed in and I
am very locked in and I know.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
What I have to do, so yeah, well I can
I can tell that you are.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
And then after my match, I sit. I always say
there's like sitters, and then there are people that pace
like wolves, right, and like I sit, And it's not
because I'm like blown up and out of shape. I
just want I need to sit for a second. Like
to me, you come down from it like I just
go through the curtain and I just sit, like I
literally just flop down and and people are like, oh
my god, are you okay? Are you okay? And I'm

(32:11):
like I'm fine. I just wanted to sit for a second,
like literally, I just wanted to sit, right. But there
are a lot of people come back and they're very
hyped up and they still have all the adrenaline that
they'll like pace back and forth and walk all around.
But I've never been one of those people. I like,
go back behind the curtain, and I just like, yeah,
I think I just need to sit for a second
and take all that in. That just happened, for sure,
So I promise you if that if I do that,

(32:32):
if you're on a show with me, and I'm doing that,
like I'm not dead, I'm not blown up and die.
Just literally, that is how I process everything is I
just need to take a sit for a minute.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
Hey, you know what, You've earned it, so, hey, you
know what.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
I find it a lot easier for me to collect
my thoughts if I'm like grounded and stationary and there's
just something very grounding about sitting on the ground, like
quite literally right, So it helps me ground to myself
and pull myself in. I can process the match. I
can process any emotions I have about the match. I

(33:09):
can process why I lost, I can process why I won.
It's it's really just a moment to take it all
in and be present, and that's why I do That's.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
Well, everybody has their own ways of doing Yeah, I
have my pre in my post. So with that being said, like,
who do you look up into the business right now?

Speaker 2 (33:32):
Oh my gosh, right now?

Speaker 1 (33:34):
It could be someone in the business as another entity. Man.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
You know who's really been very good to me is
Colby Carino has been very good to me at PWA.
I did not train at Carolina Wrestling Academy, but I
was booked on one of their shows, and ever since
I've started doing shows for them, I really feel like
I've become part of their family. And Colby is just
a great booker. He loves wrestling, He's got a great
mind for this business, and he really knows how to

(34:01):
cultivate talent and like bring out the best in people.
And getting to work there has been one of the
best things for my career. So I definitely look up
to him in that sense as someone who's just done
a lot of good for a lot of people in
this business.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
And all I would just say, I'm very inspired by
the trajectory of women's wrestling in general. How it's more
mainstream than ever before, especially because I'm a little bit
older and when I was nineteen and twenty, there was
not women's wrestling like there is now. So you see
it and see the opportunity in the evolution of it
is just really special to me, and I love that
it's something that I get to be a part of.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Oh for sure. I was been going to aaw for
a long time when actually South South Rollins was there
as Tyler Brave or Tyler Black.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
I oh my gosh, I'm gonna found like such a
little fangirl saying this, But I remember seeing Tyler Black
wrestle at Ring of Honor because I'm from the East Coast,
so I'll my felt extremely old right now. So so
it's kind of cool. It was like a really cool
moment to like to be coached by someone that I

(35:08):
saw Russell like ten or twelve years ago on the
Oh yeah, it's cool. It's been cool, and I'm so
happy for him. I love seeing like the evolution how
he keeps pushing.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yes he is, and he's also doing all that dramatic
stuff with the you know, crane at despise him. But
it's great. Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
You know I'm such a fan because I watched Raw
this weekend this week on Monday, and they had that
cage match, and I'm enjoying the cage match, Like not
because they're doing like the most crazy shit in the match,
but just like the emotion that was in that match
and like facial expressions and like the pacing was just
so cool. I enjoyed it for that reason. And then
just the cinematography of like where Seth is in that
corner and the camera shot you just see him and

(35:53):
then you see these big arms just snatch him and
yank him out of the I'm like, this is great,
Like this is good shit. Like I was so thoroughly
sports entertained by that entire match and segment, Like I
was like, this is wonderful. I remember like texting my friends,
I'm like, man, that made event was really great. The
ending was so cool, and I love how it accomplished

(36:15):
so many things. But it just added another layer to
that story and made it more interesting by infusing Roman
into their dynamic, right, like I gave it another life
because it felt like okay, cage match, Like Punks won
every match, so every big match so far, so like
where do we go from here, and it's like, wait,
where do we go from here? Because now we have Roman,
And I just really enjoyed how all of that came

(36:37):
together at the end. I mean, I still computer, I
can still put like my fan hat on and really
enjoy wrestling, and there are some people that can't once
they start doing this stuff. So I've loved that I
can still be a fan and just really enjoy or
like even after I'll have my match and I'll just
be at my merch table and like watching other people
and like I just get very into what they're doing.
I'm like, oh, this is so cool. Oh that move
was so cool. Oh my god, I didn't see that coming, like,

(36:59):
or oh that's oh, it was so great. Like I
really just appreciate and love professional wrestling.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Yes, yeah, and that's that's great. There you don't. It
doesn't die out for you.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
No, no, it doesn't. And I think that you have
to stay a fan to a certain extent. You have
to remember why you're here, and if you get too
lost in the sauce, then it's not fun. If it's
not fun, then you don't want to do it, and
the magic's gone. So the big part for me of
keeping the magic of wrestling alive is still being able
to enjoy professional wrestling.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Right right and and enjoy it kind of like the
nuances because this is a long day too, Like you
when you show up at a venue and then normal
life it's so boring.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
I'm so grateful I get to be a part of
this business. Like, you know, you go to your regular
job or whatever during the week and you hear about
all the boring crap people do, like on the weekends
after they work their nine to five and eat their
TV dinner and watch their sitcom right, and it's like
to get to be a part of wrestling is just
so cool. Yeah, it just adds so much, Like it
just enriches your life.

Speaker 1 (37:59):
You know, I feel the same way.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
It's so much better than like being like, oh, well,
you know, I guess I played some golf and went
the brunch or whatever. And it's like cool, if that's
your thing, do it. But how many people get to say, oh,
I got off work and I got my car and
I drove six hours and I went to a new
state and I got to perform in front of eight
hundred people, and like it was it was just it's
fun man, it's it really is fun. And no matter
what your endgame is in this business, I think it's

(38:24):
very important to just have fun along the way.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
Mm hmm. It's well well put and I hope everybody
sees that.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Listen to you, Yeah, dude, Like you know what, that
civilian life is boring. Like what we do is so
special and so fun. Like even on the hardest days,
maybe even like on a day where your travel sucks
and your match sucked and you got beat up and
like everything sucks, it's still the fact that you get
to do wrestling is just one of the coolest things
in the world. And like too normal people like you

(38:52):
are the coolest human being. So even if you feel
like the biggest loser alive in professional wrestling, to a civilian,
you were like a superhero. So just remember that, Like
remember that you're out there living your dreams, like doing
this really cool thing, and like other people are just
being boring. So I remember that, Like it just fun.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Going.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
I can't get I can't get all caught up at
like any negativity or it just bogs me down. So
I try to be very positive and very good vibes.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yes, I was going to ask you, what do you
enjoy doing that's not wrestling when you get out of
that sphere, Like, what are you doing?

Speaker 2 (39:29):
Nothing? And I mean, I'm going to give you some context.
I enjoy sitting outside on the porch and just listening
to birds. Like I know that's crazy, but it's very relaxing.
I like to be outside. I like the fresh air.
Or I'll go to the beach because I live at
the beach in Maryland, so I love to just go
sit and like listen to the ocean. I like to fish.

(39:52):
I like to do things that I can do by
myself and I don't have to interact with people. Because
I work during the week and I have to interact
with people, and then I do wrestling. I have to
interact with people, which I love you guys, but it's
a lot of people time. When it's time, I just
I like to kind of zone out. I like to read.
I like to sew. I mean, I know that making

(40:13):
my gear is still part of wrestling, but sewing is
so great because you're like unplugged. When you're sewing. You're
not on your phone doom scrolling, you're not watching TV
or anything like that. So it's just very like peaceful
and very peaceful, boring grandma hobbies. I like to go
to the casino and play penny machines and drink Shirley
Temples my mema era.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Right, Hey, well you know what it's it's plain, it's safe,
you know, right.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
Yeah, And honestly, like I really like to go to
the gym, not to sound like anything, but I like
it because it's just time for myself. Like the hour
or two I do that, it's just unbothered time for myself.
So a lot of my hobbies are centered around just
having time for myself where other people don't meet anything
from me, right, which is good. I think everybody needs

(41:04):
to have stuff they can do independently. That's part of
you know, finding yourself as a person.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
Yeah for sure. And how much do you do you
like take like criticism from like other wrestlers, like.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Or even I don't take advice from people that have
a life. I don't want That's my theory. Like you
and and you should always be gracious, and I think
you should be professional and hear people out because you
never know who's going to have a gem. But I
also think that you need to be very like objective
and you can't take everything to heart. You have to
have a little bit of harmor and you also have

(41:38):
to remember does this person have a life I want
to live? And if the answer is no, then I
know that sounds so horrible and so condescending. But if
you take every piece of advice you get to heart,
like it's first off, it's all going to be conflicting
because nobody actually does the same stuff, Like there are
some common advices that wrestlers get it, but there's so

(42:00):
much range in that right, So you're going to be
confused if you listen to everyone for starters. And secondly,
you know, you really have to go what does this
person bring to the table that their information is valuable
to me? Like are they? Are they working at a
place and I want to work? Have they wrestled in
a country I want to wrestle in? Like are they?

(42:23):
Is there something that they have that I could learn
from or that I want? Because a lot of everybody
has opinions. I mean even I have opinions. You know,
we all have them and they're valid, but that doesn't
necessarily mean that they apply to you. So you just
have to be smart. And I just one of my
thresholds for it is like does this person have a
life or successes that I want? And that's how I

(42:46):
roll it out real quick. And that doesn't mean I'm
ride to people, but I do think you have to
like pick and choose, you know, with who you let
into that space and who you are vulnerable with and
who you really learn and grow from that's gonna be
cut out and like kaya Na Kenna is an ego
and doesn't want to listen and it's like no, like,

(43:07):
but like, seriously, if you listen to every single person,
it's it's too much and you have to have a
threshold for who you're going to listen to. So my
advice is to pick people you look up to that
live lives you want to live, that have things that
you want and can and can advise you on how
to get there because they have it themselves.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
You know, totally, totally, I tell you you're on that one. Now,
let's talk about the hardcore, the street fighting or it
does matches. You've been closed it is because of your
stuff with DCD. I enjoy watching it.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
I enjoy watching it. I don't need to do a
death match. There are plenty of people that do it,
and they do it very well. I think Alex Cologne
is one of the best deaf match wrestlers out there.
He is incredible and he can tell a story when
he does a death match. It is a gift and
I have always enjoyed watching him. However, me with this
hair and these nails, I'm good. I don't need to

(44:01):
go roll around in glass, y'all. I don't feel like
everything is for every person. You know, you don't need
to be everything. And the people that do death match
are special people and that is their specialty. And if
you want to do it and you're passionate about it,
I support you. I will watch you. I will cheer
you on as you roll around in glass and totally

(44:23):
demolish people. That's awesome. But it's just not for me.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
You know.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
That doesn't mean I look down on it. It's just
it's not for me. But I do enjoy watching it.
I do think when it's executed well, it can be
very powerful. So yeah, yeah, but I'm good. I ain't
doing no death match. I do a street fight, a
cage match, a plunder match, bring it on. I'm not
I'm not a death match witchy. I'm not I'm really not,
but I do enjoy watching it. I think it's cool.

(44:47):
It's just a flavor of ice cream in the tub, right.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
Right, I mean, who could forget when you talk about
the woman A Sawyer?

Speaker 2 (44:55):
Yes, Lawyer is incredible. She's a different breed. Look, I
could ever do what Slawyer does. Yeah, And I love
that about her that she is so like fearless and
unapologetic and like in your face, like she's fantastic. So,
like I said, you know, just because something's not for
you doesn't mean you can't appreciate it. And I appreciate.

(45:18):
I appreciate death matches just another part of professional wrestling,
you know, it's just like any other gimmick to me,
Like there's tag team wrestling, there's comedy wrestling, there's technical wrestling,
and then there's death match wrestling. It's just doughnut in
the box.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Yeah, yeah, I know Shaz has been signed up for
those and it's it's fun to see her do it.
But have you never bled before or was that something
you've done already? I'm trying to remember if you have.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
I've definitely bled in matches, but not like from a
death match.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
If that's just just a regular match.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
No, like I actually beat the shit out of people,
so we're getting hard weighted here.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
Oh oh okay, it makes sense. And when someone comes
up to you and wants advice, like, let's say yourself.
Some of these trainees at shows like they want to
make it, They want to make it to where you're at, Like,
what is your advice for them?

Speaker 2 (46:12):
The first thing I tell them is to not to
take advice from people that live a life they don't want, right.
The second thing I tell them is that it's very
important that you get out of wherever you are. You know,
even if it's just once a month, you need to
go somewhere and be around different people and wrestle different
people and interact with different fans because that's how you

(46:33):
learn and you get better. And if you're just wrestling
the same people and you're in front of the same
fans all the time, you're just gonna get stuck in
the fish bowl and then you're gonna get very resentful,
and then you're probably gonna have some drama and it's
like nobody's got time for that. So keep yourself moving
forward and stay focused. Always look for the next little
way you can kind of punch up. I always try
to encourage people to like, take chances, take opportunities, even

(46:54):
if you don't feel like you're ready for them, make
sure you take them because you will learn so much
from falling on your face. You will learn more from
that than you would from not taking the opportunity. So
I always try to encourage people to like not be
afraid and to take those opportunities. And it's it's okay,
you know, to be in discovery mode and figure yourself out.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
For sure. Someone I'd like to see you, Russell.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Go ahead said, just find your confidence.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
You know, yes, I'd love to see you Russell. Chris Statland,
I'm not sure if you ever a wrestler. I not
get a.

Speaker 2 (47:24):
Chance to wrestle Chris when I was working Beyond Hopefully
in the future, because Chris is just an athlete.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
Man.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
You were talking about with Maggie and she's very athletic, right,
and it's like, how do you meet with someone who's
that athletic, Like Chris is very athletic, just in the
same way I missed writ like just a total athlete
and it's just so different from me, and I would
just love to mix it up with her. She's strong too,
man like. I've seen her like eat girls, right, so
I love that she's Like, was she the first female

(47:51):
graduate from Creative Pro too? I think, yeah, very very decorated.
I love seeing her successful at AW two.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
Yeah, I mean too. A has been signing a lot
of great women.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
So yeah, I'm hoping to return to Beyond when they
start doing their shows in Rhode Island. So okay, we'll
say back to my old stomping grounds up there. Beyond
to me very early in my career, and I haven't
really been back because again, I moved. I was working
more in the South. But I'm trying to hit back
some old stomping grounds these days.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
And what's your favorite venue?

Speaker 2 (48:25):
Hmmm? A middle school anywhere full of ten to thirteen
year olds because they're rabbit and they love wrestling, right,
Like I guess like from an indie standpoint, you know,
if if I were TV, I'd probably have like an
actual arena, right, But if you had to pick, like
on the Independence, what my favorite venue would be, I

(48:46):
would say a middle school in the South because it
is like the kids, man, they just love wrestling and
they have fun in like that specific age group, you know,
high schoolers are like, oh, we're too cool for this, right,
Like elementary school age kids are just like real young's,
like they may or may not be paying attention, but
like middle school kids love wrestling and it is so

(49:09):
much fun. And if you want to even talk from
like a getting better at wrestling standpoint, it is such
a great venue to work in because you really get
to see how fans interact with you and how they
respond to what you're doing and what works and what doesn't.
Like kids are the perfect little sample size for that,
you know, because adults especially, they are like different ranges

(49:29):
and adults as wrestling fans. You have casual fans, you
have people that watch it because their kids do, and
then you have people who are very invested. So there's
like different markets you're trying to hit. But kids are kids, man,
and they're honest, and they're gonna either like you or
they're not. And it's so good to work in front
of kids because that teaches you how to be a
better performer, and it's just it's fun, Like it's so fun,

(49:51):
Like there's nothing better than like being a babyface and
all the kids think you were the coolest person alive
or like being a heel and making a kid's super mad,
Like it's so fun and like there's a way to
do it where you're not like being mean to kids.
You know, you kind of have to be like a
big kid yourself. Whenever I work and there's a lot

(50:11):
of kids, I'm always just like, man, what would I
say in second grade? That would like upset somebody that
is meaningless? It's an adult. I definitely called a kid
a booger eader. I was like, go sit down, you
little bugger eater, and he gots so mad, like, but
his feelings weren't hurt, Like he wasn't crying. I don't
think you want to like make kids like really really upset,

(50:31):
but I think it's it's fun to kind of play
with their investment and because they actually care, it's so
real to them. Ye, wrestling in front of five hundred
kids and fifty adults.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
No offense at all.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Wrestling when I was a kid, you know it me
It makes me think of how cool I thought wrestling
was when I was a kid, and that's why I
appreciate it so much. It brings that inner child back
out in me to see them having so much fun, definitely.

Speaker 1 (50:56):
And then are you doing any more of those convention?
Know you did Star Cast? Have you done anything like
that since?

Speaker 2 (51:03):
No, I've not because I've been trying to wrestle every
weekend and really just gety good this year. And not
that I don't like going to conventions. I love going
to conventions and I love meeting fans. But if I'm
at a convention, I'm not getting better at my craft.
I'm sitting at a table signing pictures. And for me,
owning my craft is my top priority this year. So
I'm not saying that no, I won't be at any conventions,

(51:23):
but it's just not something I've prioritized because I really
would much rather take that time and perform for you all,
you know.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
Yeah, so to see that too, Yeah, And.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
I'm I'm would like to think I'm pretty good about
being at my merch table and being accessible, So if
you ever wanted to meet me, you can always come
up to my merch table. I'm not to charge you
an arm and a leg for a photo. I know
conventions can sometimes be a little expensive with that stuff,
So yeah, to me, it's more about the hustle and
just getting out there and meeting people where they're at.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
Yes, for sure. And is there any other area that
you haven't in the country. I know you said West coast, right,
but it's the northwest.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
We'd really like to maybe go to those places this
year and just really cover the whole map.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Okay. I know they have AEW has an all end thing.
I don't know if they have any indies shows going
along with that, but it'd be interesting.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Sometimes they do. It depends on where they're at. It's
tougher with the pay per views being on Saturdays, right,
because like a lot of the India used to run
on Saturday when the pay per view was on Sunday,
but now that the pay per views are on Saturday,
it kind of jams the weekend up a little bit.
And then the other thing that happens. And I'm not
this is not a slight on bigger indies, but bigger

(52:34):
indies get the pick of the letter, right, So if
AW is running and then maybe like GCW or Revolver
or like a bigger level top tier indie wants to
run like that's gonna split the crowd, and then like
the smaller indies, it's hard. So it's I do like
those big weekends. But I think it's it's just it's
its own animal now because it's so popular and there

(52:55):
are tears, they're even tiers on.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
The indies, right, It's crazy and that magic where it
was like a couple of decades ago.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yeah, it really is. It's really cool. And like I said,
I love that there's like levels to the independence, right,
Like you have your mid level, you have your top tier,
and then you have like your Jogger not indies like GCW.
But it changes the game a little bit when you
have these different tiers and then you also have TV
companies running on all the dates, so it just changes
the game for sure.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
And when you look at your career so far, what
do you think draws people to you, like as a wrestler,
as a performer, Why are people talking about you the
next day and or you know, the day of as well.
You know, I.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
Would like to think that it's because I have a
certain authenticity to my self that people connect with. Yes
I'm a witch, Yes I'm magical and mystical and all
those wonderful things, but I'm also a real human being
that loves professional wrestling. And I don't think people are
stupid and I think that they can pick up on

(53:57):
who really likes wrestling and who's just here, So even
if it's not being said, I think that that is
something I have in common with fans is I really
love wrestling and I am not afraid to show it,
and you really love wrestling, and a lot of people
really love wrestling. So I think that that common interest
connects us, you know, like there's an authenticity, like I'm

(54:18):
here for the right reasons, and I think fans know that,
So I think that that's part of it. I could
be wrong. I don't know. You're a fan, you tell me,
But I think that if I were still a fan,
I would value professional wrestlers that I knew were there
for the right reasons because they absolutely love this business
and they don't have to be a part of it,
but they are choosing to be a part of it, right,

(54:39):
Something really really awesome about that. So that would be
my appeal if I put my fan hat on. I
don't know was that a good answer.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
That was good. I thought you might say something different,
but it was good.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
I was trying to really think about like what it
could be, you know, because it could be like, oh, well,
it's just like I am so magical and mystical and
you can't help but look, but I do. I think
there is like an authenticity that people relate to.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
I think you're a very sweet person too.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Yeah, well I try to be. I could be your
worst enemy, though it depends. I could be the greatest
person you've ever met or your worst nightmare.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
Okay, depends on your wrestling may or not. Oh yeah,
exactly exactly. That's a good point. I know you have
these upcoming shows that just if you want to plug them,
go ahead your next couple of shows.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
I will be at the Premier Wrestling Federation on Saturday,
March fifteenth, be facing Leah Night, and then next weekend
I will be at Action Wrestling. On the twenty first,
I will be facing Notorious BBJ. And then on the
twenty second I will be at Focus Pro Wrestling in
Massachusetts and I will be facing Gabby Forza. So please
catch me at those shows if your local If not,

(55:54):
I do believe they all stream on IWTV, so you
can catch them there.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
And thinking about TV, there's that show I wanted to
ask you. Were you part of that show about the
day or the life or something?

Speaker 2 (56:06):
A life and I would have loved to have done
that when I was recovering from my injury. It didn't
quite work out. Maybe in the future I could just
love people my witchy ways. Really, what I think would
be cool. Are you, like, do you watch ESPN at all?
Or you like a sports fan in that site? So
I always thought it would be really cool if there
was a show on IWTV that was like Around the Horn,

(56:27):
but it had like four people in wrestling, maybe like
a wrestler, a fan, a journalist, a podcast or whatever,
was a host and they would just debate like a
topic or two from this week wrestling, and whoever had
the best argument would get the points right. I just
think that would be a fun little like show on IWTV,
and it would give you, like your wrestling news, but
it wouldn't be just like here's our wrestling news.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
Yeah, that'd be fun the IWTV. I'll host it, yes, yes,
of course.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
Like or even like a PTI right where it's just
like the thirty second rundown of everything that happens, Like
that would be cool. I would love to see you
do some like original more original content like that. I
think that they have some really good minds there and
they just they're fun people that enjoy wrestling, and I
want to keep seeing them thrive.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
I know. And it was like crazy for me when
I saw all the promotions on them, like, oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Oh it's nuts. It's so nuts. Like we were touched
on that earlier, right, how a couple of years back
before IWTV. It's like you could if you were starting
out as a wrestler and you were green and you
were new and you were nervous, you could go wrestle
somewhere and nobody would ever see it, and it was
okay if you weren't good yet. But now, man, like
the pressure because you're cut, Like so many people are
coming right out of wrestling school and they're immediately on IWTV.

(57:38):
So it's like you have to have all of your
growing pains in front of the internet full of fans
that are going to ridicule everything you do. That is
like that is wild pressure when you think about it,
Like the days of having like a no pressure match
that you can learn from are just totally gone.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
I know.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
It's it's you got to be on top of it. Days,
like there's no room for can't mess up the microscope
every time Now the WTV microscope.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
You're right, I guess there's a pre show, but that helps.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
You know. I really I love pre shows. I love
the idea of it. I know people have mixed opinions
on pre shows, like but something that's very lost these
days is kids show up and they do ring crew
and they get an opportunity. Like there are so many
thankless ring crew duties that people do and they never
get anything out of it except for maybe the other

(58:37):
people they meet when they're there doing it right, the
networking aspect, But there are so few promotions that still
extend that to people who help them out. And I
just wish that there was more opportunity for kids coming
up to get like a pre show match or just
try out match, or I know some promotions do like
a YouTube show where like aw does a live and

(58:57):
I think that's really nice, or Action does next Up
they do their YouTube show, and it's like that is
how people get in because you never know which one
of those kids is going to be your next big superstar. Right,
So I just wish, right, y'all need to do better
for the kids helping you out, you know, like let's
bring back one or two pre shows maybe a little

(59:17):
YouTube show. I just love the idea of like when
people come and they give their time to you, like
set up the ring or set up your chairs, like yes,
they're paying their duke. I love the opportunity to actually
get in the ring and then they learn something from it.
So hopefully the pre show keeps making a company the
YouTube show. The YouTube show seems like it's the evolution

(59:37):
of the pre show almost like they tape it.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
And they put it.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
I agree, So more little like YouTube shows because also
it's just free content for you as a promoter to
like more content, right, content is king Maybe that's one
of the party note is just like take care of
all the people helping you out.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
Where the shows. I go to CSW, they do a
Future's Royal.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Yeah, I mean that's that's good though, because people need that.
People absolutely need that. It's such an important part of
our business. It's kind of fallen to the wayside lately.
It's I sometimes I feel like it's more thankless than
it's ever been before. So I love DPW is really
great about that too. They have they have like usually
like a little pre show that they do. I don't know,

(01:00:22):
I mean, I guess you know. I'm sure there are promoters,
and you guys have your reasons why you don't do them,
and they're very valid. But I just like the feel
good aspect of man, this kid works so hard and
you finally gets a match.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
You know, I hear you totally. It's like a movie almost.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Yeah, it's like, you know, appreciate match does not need
to be fifteen minutes like you know five We're good.
But I do like it. I do like when someone
works hard and they finally get the carrot, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
Yeah, yeah, same here. I like seeing like wrestlers, I say, oh, well,
they were just helping out now cool.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
I think it's just the nature of the business, right,
Like you want to see people move up and the
new people come in, and not everybody can be in
the same spot forever, So keep feeding the beast.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
And where is the Where would you like to go international?
That's all international? How about that? Did you ever know
about that?

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Yes? I would love to go to Germany and do
a show or a tour at wXw. I love the
idea of the fem Fetals Tournament. I love that they
have such a thriving women's division and it's just it
seems like it would be such a good experience to have.
All the women I've spoken to that have done it
said that it was incredible. So that is definitely something

(01:01:37):
on my twenty twenty five list is to go to wXw.

Speaker 1 (01:01:40):
Okay, hopefully you'll get that opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
Yeah, yeah, dude, I would love that. I think it
would be incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
Yeah. I feel like a lot of the women we
see today they're where to act is they did stuff internationally?

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
You have to Yeah, that's definitely the next level. Right,
Like we talked about levels, it's like, how do you
level up? That is the way you level up in
this business?

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
Sure? And what is the strangest venue you've ever worked at?

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
Hmmm? It was one I've wrestled on the beach. I
did the Beyond Beach Show. It was really fun. It
was really fun. I wrestled Ashley Vox and she did
a cannon ball the apron on and I was in
the sand and I caught her. And when I caught her,
it was like her feet went into the sand and

(01:02:25):
kicked all this sand up and I just got like
a mouthful of sand and I remember splitting up from
the cannibal like like the sand on my mouth. It
was kind of like like King of the Hill, like
pocket sand almost, and I just but it was fun.
It was such a cool show. I would love to
do their beach show again at some point if it's

(01:02:45):
in the cards. That was really weird venue though, right.
I mean it's not like weird, like creepy or like
odd or uncomfortable. It's just unconventional. That was really that
was really anything else where I've wrestled, that's just like
been weird and wild. But like wrestling itself is very
like weird and wild in so it's like it could

(01:03:07):
have been like a weird thing that just felt normal
because it's wrestling. You know.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
I don't know if you heard a Circle six, but
they do shows and like they're called barroom bralls. There's
no Yeah, those are fun.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
I've been to a couple of those. They're great. Really,
like what Circle six is doing. I think Mike and
JB are extremely creative and I love them. She just
embrace their creativity and they don't care what people think
about it. Right, more people in this world who do
not care what people think about what they're doing. Yes, No,
Circle six is fun. It's always fun. Their shows look fun.
They look like everybody there looks like they're having fun.

(01:03:41):
Everybody wrestling looks like they're having fun. And if it
looks fun, I'm all for it. We're fun in wrestling.

Speaker 1 (01:03:48):
Yeah, i'd like to see maybe very one day you'll
have a chance to do one of their events.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Yeah, that would be cool for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
Yeah, you've probably never done something like that with no
ring at all. Right, No, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
Think I've ever done in no ring match. No, mm hmm.
Had lots of very traditional wrestling matches, which is fine,
but it'd be cool to branch out a little.

Speaker 1 (01:04:10):
Bit, right, steel cage or I've done a.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
Steel cage match. It was like a blood Sport but
in a steel cage. Oh yes, Hilloicate at CFU. That
was really fun.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Yeah, kind of like an MMA mm hmm. Yeah that
was pretty cool as well. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:30):
I enjoy blood Sport. I think it's such a cool
concept when it's executed right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
Yeah, And it's crazy how we had the w names
come in. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Yeah, I love that they have a relationship where they
can do that. I think the best blood Sport matches
are the ones where it really is like that hybrid
of like MMA style, but then like pro wrestling too,
Like I love when it's ground and pound, like we're
looking for submissions, and then someone's just like all right,
I've had enough and starts suplexing the living daylights out.
I'm like, yeah, this is so cool. Like sport's just

(01:05:00):
an awesome concept. I think is really well, it's really cool.
Real they're very different and fun.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
Yeah they are. They're really unique, especially if people are
in the combat sports. It's it's right up their alley too. Yeah,
and well, I appreciate you Kaya being on pw A.
Let's you have anything more?

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
No, No, that's pretty much. We covered a lot of ground.

Speaker 1 (01:05:23):
Yes we did, and I appreciate you again being on
PW report. And if you want to go ahead and
plug everything, go ahead your social media and whatnot.

Speaker 2 (01:05:31):
Okay, I'm on all social media platforms under the handle
Kaya m c k so k A I A m
c k so Facebook, x, Instagram, TikTok, well all under
that handle. My online store, my Good Witch Apothecary is
Kaya McKenna dot Bigcartel dot com. We have lots of
awesome merch. I just got these cool neon yellow scapenis

(01:05:55):
in so they're in the shop now too. Check that
out and yeah, I love like definitely hit me up
on socials. I love taking you guys along for the ride.

Speaker 1 (01:06:06):
I appreciate you again. KaiA McKenna on PW, the Condo
and Comra check her out coming near you. And before
I let you go, can you do a quick shout
out for PWE and I'll let you go. Zeichel, all right,
let me just stop this recording and starting one