AEW star Bea Priestly recently spoke to Talk Sport. Here are some highlights…

On not signing with NXT UK:

“It was very difficult because, Toni Storm, she is one of my best friends ever. And also, I’ve got a very strong bond with Kay Lee [Ray] and Viper [Piper Niven]; Piper and I are a tag team in Japan and I’ve got a lot of working experience with Kay Lee.”

On worried she would be lost in the shuffle in WWE:

“At the time when they offered me a contract, I already knew that Piper and Kay Lee had signed. So for me, I didn’t think that I was never going to have a spotlight on me because they had just signed two of the top girls in the UK.”

“So I was going to be signed as a mid-carder and it would have taken me a while to get the spotlight on me. So in my head, I was like ‘Ok, if I stay away – I still want to get a lot more experience in Japan – I still have a lot of other things I want to do’, for me, that was the best decision for me.”

On signing with AEW:

“I first met Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes during a What Culture show in 2016 or 2017? It was a few years ago. So I already had a good relationship with Brandi and at the end of 2018, then Brandi and Cody did a tour with a promotion called Fight Forever. I wrestled Brandi on one of those shows and Brandi really enjoyed the match, Cody really enjoyed the match and they were like ‘that was really great’, but then I got a phone call from NXT UK.”

“So I contacted Cody and said ‘they’ve made me an offer but I’m not really sure what I want to do’ and then from there, Cody and Brandi offered me a part-time deal and for me, I still wanted to have a big poart in Stardom, so the AEW deal worked out a lot better for me than the NXT UK deal. Because I wouldn’t be able to commit as much as I have to Japan if I was in NXT UK.”

Click here for the full interview.