AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa plans to return to the ring in January, but she is still upset about having to address her critics while recovering.
Rosa, who has been out with a back injury since late August, recently appeared on Busted Open Radio and appeared to react to Interim AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm’s comments about wanting to end the “interim title nonsense” because she is “doing the work” each week.
“I am still hurt. They haven’t given me a time yet when I’m coming back. I’m saying it’s January and I hope it is January. And again, if Toni Storm disagrees with what was decided in the back, that is not my problem,” Rosa said. “When I get better, I will still be the champion if my boss lets me be the champion. If he doesn’t, I will be okay with that decision too, because I don’t make the rules and that needs to be said.”
Rosa revealed that she will have an epidural in the next two weeks, after which she will be able to begin training for her January return. Storm received a message from her.
“I feel your pain, Toni Storm. I really do feel your pain. I really know and I read that you are doing all the work every single week. Guess what? I’m doing the same work. I am trying to get better to get back in the ring to defend this championship. But in the meantime, get some wins under your belt, so you can talk shit about Thunder Rosa,” she said.
Rosa said veterans in the industry, not just in AEW, have informed her that there are “widespread lies going on in different parts and I’m part of these rumors of whatever.”
Rosa claims that veterans in the industry, not just AEW, have informed her that “widespread lies are going on in different parts and I’m part of these rumours of whatever.”
She added that the Storm comments came as no surprise because she has been mentioned in the media, for better or worse, despite not being on TV for two months.
Rosa also addressed her critics of her ring work.
“As a Latina, it is very hard to make a name for yourself because I’m not a second-generation wrestler. I’m self-made and I had the opportunity and I had the great, great chance to work in many different companies where they believe in my work. And sometimes, it just takes one privileged person or one person with clout to like a tweet and destroy everything you’ve done. It influences how fans see and perceive you as a wrestler,” she said.
Ros also addressed critics who questioned why she wasn’t stripped of the title while injured.
“If you’re in the back and you are in distress about me being the champion or me being called the champion, I don’t call the shots. I have a boss and there’s a booker in our office that makes the decisions. So, if you’re distraught about what is being booked, maybe you should talk to the booker and keep my name out of your mouth,” she said. “It is really hard when people are approaching you and they’re still asking you…because I have some friends who are still asking me if I’m faking an injury. These rumors are started by one or two people and they just spread out and it’s not fair. I don’t feel like no other wrestler has gone through this, like not at all. Somebody gets hurt, it’s like ‘Oh, they are hurt.’ But when it was me, it was like immediate. After everybody was writing ‘Get well’ on Twitter after my promo came out, it was just a flood of disgusting things that were not true that came out.”
“I am hurt and if you have something to ask, you can go on my YouTube and watch my YouTube videos,” she continued. “I have posted every time I’m in a doctor’s office, showing to you and explaining to you what’s going with me. As a matter of fact, in a week or two, I’m getting another epidural so I can go back to training because I want to get back in the ring. I want to get back in the ring and that’s it. And I want to show you when they put the needle in my back so they can shut the fuck up and stop saying that I am not hurt. That hurts because I’m trying to get out and trying to get mentally prepared to get back in the ring, to get back to do what I love the most which is professional wrestling. But again there are certain people who cannot keep my name out of their mouth. I want to get better mentally, physically, and spiritually. When people have absolutely nothing to do but to create rumors and spread them out instead of texting me directly – because y’all got my number – it creates a lot of problems in my career too, with my family, because my family is worried, they get harassed, they get everything else.”
Rosa also expressed disappointment at not being able to raise as much money as she had hoped for the victims of the Uvalde school shooting.
“I will never forget that time that I was trying to raise money for Uvalde’s families,” she said. “I was trying to raise money for 20 families that lost their kids and I don’t know who the heck decided it was a great idea to talk to the dirt sheets and talk shit about me. And unfortunately, we’re not able to raise money like we tried to. We only raised $5000, which is nothing. They took away the goodness that we were trying to do for other purposes. Like, what is the purpose of trying to destroy somebody’s career or somebody’s status when they work so hard and the only thing that they are trying to do is to feed their family.”
