During a recent interview with Pwinsider, AEW Superstar Ruby Soho commented on working with Tony Khan, being nervous before her AEW debut at All Out, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On how the AEW locker room compares to others: “It was a lot more familiar than I expected. Obviously, I’m the new girl in town. I was very nervous to come into the locker room. There’s a bunch of very talented women that have helped build this division in this company. And I’m just this new girl coming in, hoping to get a chance to be a part of it. But it turned out, I knew a lot of the women there. I had worked with some of them previously, even some of the guys there I’ve known for quite some time, some of them, of which are my friends. And so it was a lot more familiar than I expected. It was such a warm welcome. Everybody was so kind and so sweet and so welcoming to me, that I am just so grateful for, that again I have no complaints, it was just an amazing feeling because I was very nervous going in. And I was really hoping that I was going to get a welcome that, people weren’t upset that I was there. But it was the exact opposite. Everybody was just very encouraging and very welcoming. I’m very grateful to them.”
On making her debut at All Out: “I thought I knew what nervous was. I thought with my past experiences that I knew what nervous was. I had no idea. I could feel my heart beating in my throat. My hands were shaking. My legs were shaking. And like you said, it was a 100%, it was a culmination to my entire wrestling career. Everything that I had done up until that point had led to that moment, is their response going to be happy? Are people going to be excited to see me? Are people are going to be behind me? It was so many questions that I wasn’t sure if I knew the answer to. And I’ll never forget, just standing at the bottom of those stairs, my whole body shaking. I have friends of mine that are encouraging me and cheering me on, but I’m just so lost in this moment, tunnel vision of just, “Oh gosh, I hope this goes well. I hope it goes well.” And then when the fans started to chant Ruby Soho before the countdown actually happened, I’ll never forget this in my whole life, Tony [Khan], from behind his screen, just jumps up and goes, “Let’s go!” I was so pumped and that energy just channeled them to me where I was, “Yes, yes, this is it. This is the moment.” And then stepping out on that stage, the emotion that you saw on my face was true and was so real in that moment of just, I just didn’t want to leave that moment because I was just, “Wow, this is what every professional wrestler dreams of is this moment, as this time is being appreciated for the work that you’ve put in the past, having people be excited for the work that you’re going to put in the future.” It was just the best moment of my wrestling career, honestly.”
On if she considers her AEW debut to be ‘therapeutic’: “Honestly, with anywhere when I was on the Indies or with WWE, it’s the wrestling industry. Things aren’t always going to go the way that you want. But I didn’t necessarily think of it that way, in a way of, “Oh, this is washed away.” And negative things that I’ve been through in the past. It was just in that moment, everything that I had done, and I just knew that I’d made all the right choices, to get to that moment. Every choice that I’d made, had led me here. And this is where I belong. Like I said, even my work with WWE, I wouldn’t have had to gotten the chance to experience that moment if it weren’t for WWE. Honestly, it was just every step that I had made, every choice that I made, the person that I had tried to continue to be, to stay true to myself, led me to that stage. Honestly, it was just a breath of fresh air to be, “Okay, you can be confident in the choices that you made, because everything that you’ve done, has led you to be able to experience this.” Which, not a lot of people in the industry can say that they got a chance to experience something like that. I felt very lucky and fortunate.”
On working with Tony Khan: “Honestly, he is the absolute best. He is honestly just the best boss that I could ever possibly ask for. His energy is unmatched. And regardless of how you feel in that moment, if for any reason you’re not excited about wrestling or whatever, you’re having a bad day. You walk in and you look at Tony Khan and you see his energy, you see how much he cares, genuinely, wholeheartedly about his product. And it’s just infectious. It’s impossible not to be, “Hell yeah. Let’s go, let’s go.” It’s so hard not to be infected by that love of the product, of pro-wrestling, of everything that comes with it. He is honestly just like best person. And he just cares about his talent. He takes time to get to know his talent. He talks to his talent and he’s honestly just the best possible boss I could ever possibly ask for. And I’m so excited and so grateful to get to work with him, honestly.”