Ruby Soho is ready to become the AEW Women's World Champion at AEW Revolution and is looking forward to stepping in the ring with Saraya for the first time ever in the process.
Ruby Soho will be part of the Triple Threat match at AEW Revolution for the AEW Women's World Championship. She will be challenging champion Jamie Hayter, and Soho will be across the ring from Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE.
Saraya represents The Outsiders of the AEW women's division, while Jamie hater represents AEW's homegrown talent. Having spent time in WWE while also finding herself living a more authentic life in AEW, Ruby has been caught in the middle of the ongoing conflict in the AEW women's division.
During a recent interview with Fightful's Grapsody podcast, Ruby explained that she is not choosing sides and simply looking to become a champion. Instead, Ruby says, in true punk rock style, she feels like she's the only one she can depend on.
"I have told a lot of people I don’t even know how I ended up here. I don’t know how I ended up in the middle. I feel like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time a bunch of times. Where I’m just trying to come to work and I’m trying to win matches and I’m trying go home. That’s all I do. I just mind my business, I do what I need to do and go ‘cause again, I’m too old for it. But now I’m in this position where I’m being pulled in both directions and I don’t really want to go either. If I had to choose a side, I’m choosing my side. That’s the side I’m choosing. Because at the end of the day, that’s all I can depend on is me. If I’m winning the title, I’m winning the title. Not a group. I did the group thing before. I did it for four years. Some of the best times of my entire life. I ain’t doing it again. I’m over it. I’m choosing my side. I’m choosing me and I’m the only person I can depend on to make sure I take home that gold. So as far as the cat fight crap that keeps happening, I would love for it to just stop. But I don’t know how to run away from it and still run towards the gold. I feel like it’s just something I have to maneuver through in order to get to where I want to be. But, yeah, it’s been an ordeal," she says.
Speaking of the divide fracturing the AEW women's roster that is currently playing out on screen, Soho says that she expected this divide to happen regardless of who joined the company due to the built-in pride of building the division from the ground up that homegrown talent naturally begins to feel over time.
"I think this divide was a long time coming. It was going to happen regardless because of how many people that have come from somewhere else coming into the company. I think that it was inevitable because, after a while, the homegrowns are like, ‘We built this place,’ and the outsiders are like, ‘We came here to try to make this place better.’ So I think that there’s an argument on both sides. I think that this was inevitable. I was just fortunate enough to be stuck in the middle when it came to fruition," she said.
During the brief time in WWE when they were both on the main roster, many parallels were drawn between Ruby Soho and Saraya. Both headed up major factions, Ruby leading the Riott Squad and Paige leading Absolution. Now, Ruby is talking about how she was always a fan of the former Paige and is looking forward to sharing a ring with her.
"I’ve definitely always been a fan of Saraya. I’ve always looked at her as someone who paved the way for a woman like me to be accepted in the wrestling industry. I feel like alternative woman, with people like her and Lita, if it wasn’t for them, I would not have been as accepted as I have been over the last few years. So I definitely have monumental amounts of respect for her. I have, obviously, when my hair was longer and it was black because women can only be seen as similar by the color and length of their hair, I was compared to her a lot throughout my early days of my career. While that was an honor to be compared to somebody with the talent caliber of her, I was definitely out to show that I was different and that we are two very different competitors. I think one of the reasons that is also a dream scenario for people is to see how different we really are. The one way you can really prove that is to step into the ring together. I’m excited to see exactly how that interaction takes place. But I’m also excited to step into the ring with someone I’ve had a lot of respect for a really long time," said Ruby.
Speaking about Jamie Hayter, Ruby would say that she admires the run that Jamie has been on thus far, but is hoping to win the championship and represent the division in her own way.
"After having watched Jamie’s reign thus far, she has been an absolutely incredible champion, without a shadow of a doubt," said Ruby. "She has proved to everyone why they stuck by her. Why the fans were enamored with her for the last few months and rooting for her and basically screaming for everyone to pay attention to Jamie Hayter. She has proved it with every single match she’s had. She brought out a fight in every woman that she’s had. Which is what a true champion does, is to bring out a special level of fight to bring the importance of this title. I think there are gonna be some big shoes to fill in that instance.
"I think, for me, having done this for as long as I have and having gone as long as I have without holding championship gold, I think I have all the ambition and all the hunger in the world to be that fighting champion, to be able to represent the women in a way that all the women on the roster can be proud of," she continued. "I really, genuinely, would not take that honor lightly. At the end of the day, I just love to fight people. I think it’ll just give me more of an excuse to keep doing that and to be able to really propel this division even further and do my best to represent it the best way that I can."
Ruby looks to capture a major singles title for the first time in her career, a goal of hers since she arrived in All Elite Wrestling at AEW Revolution.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Revolution on Saturday, March 5, 2023.
