During a recent appearance on the “AEW Unrestricted” podcast, Leyla Hirsch commented on the inspiration behind her wrestling style, her emotions after being signed by AEW, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On her emotions after being signed by AEW: “Yeah, I found out on Twitter. It’s funny because once I got there, this might seem silly, but my next goal was to have that graphic posted because to me that meant the world. It’s like, ‘Okay, this is legit actually, this is really happening.’ So, when Tony Khan announced to me that I was officially signed, I was like shaking. I was like, ‘Wow. I actually did this.’ In a short amount of time as well. So, it was awesome. It was so nice to see that someone like me could make it to this stage, could have this graphic. It meant the world to me. It was like, ‘Alright, everything I have done up until this point has been worth it.’ I actually still get chills from it, so that’s awesome. [My family] was so proud of me, especially my mom because she’s supported me since day one. I put her through a lot with wrestling, but she’s been by my side since day one. She was very proud. It was nice to prove her right with all the times I’ve told her it’s gonna pay off. ‘I’m gonna make it, give it some time.’ Then I showed her that graphic and it was like, ‘I did it.’”
On her match against Kamille at NWA Empowerrr and her goal to have more opportunities in AEW: “For me, it’s just patience and getting the opportunity. When the opportunity comes, I know I can kill it. I would love to have that kind of match in AEW. It’s just the time and the patience for me, but it’ll come. When that moment does come, I’m going to kill it.”
On the inspiration behind her wrestling style: “I would say amateur wrestling. I honestly feel if I didn’t do amateur wrestling, I wouldn’t be this type of wrestler. Also, training at CZW. I wasn’t going to be a girl that put on a lot of makeup. I wanted people to believe in everything that I did in the ring. And then I studied a lot of Kurt Angle, Tazz, even like UFC I watched. Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler – it’s inspiring seeing people like them because they’re different. When I wrestle I don’t go off my looks, that’s not my goal.”
On why she’s a fan of intergender wrestling: “I, honestly, love intergender wrestling. For me, personally, it’s helped me and has shown me what I can do and the limit for me. I love wrestling girls, but to me, it makes me work when I wrestle the guys. I love hard-hitting. I love it. I might sound crazy for that, but I just love that. I love intergender wrestling. I know people have their opinions about it. I actually think it’s helped a lot of the women.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
