AEW wrestler Willow Nightingale. Photo courtesy of AEW
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) wrestler and former New Japan Strong Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale spoke to amNewYork Metro about the upcoming Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe stadium, her career highlights, and her goals for the future.
For pro-wrestlers and their fans, the adrenaline rush of a packed, New York City arena is second to none. However, for Willow — who rocketed to stardom in 2023 after defeating former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Mercedes Moné in a tournament — performing in the Big Apple is extra special.
Willow, a Long Island native, told amNewYork Metro that she is excited to be able to achieve her dreams in front of friends and family at an arena she grew up familiar with.
“These are venues that I pass in my day-to-day life all the time, but I also have this special opportunity to share this with my friends and family. Whenever we’re at local shows, I invite my parents and my siblings. And for a long time, my parents had stopped watching me wrestle because I had broken my neck a few years ago and I think it was too much for my parents to see,” Willow said. “When I went back to wrestling at school gymnasiums they just didn’t get why it was worth it. And I’ve really been able to stick it to them and be like: ‘Hey guys, look at me now.’”
When AEW Grand Slam sets up its ring in Arthur Ashe stadium on Sept. 20, Willow says she wants to continue a lineage of Black women thriving in the area, such as Coco Gauff, who just won the U.S Open.
Willow also spoke about the moment that really put her on the map within the wrestling world: when she won the Strong Women’s tournament to become a champion. Willow told amNewYork Metro that she had to change her training and regiment in order to compete in the April 27 single-elimination, multi-promotion tournament where she went one-on-one with Mercedes Moné. Shocking many, she defeated the former WWE heavyweight to…
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