Harley Cameron is best known for her singing, rapping, and acting ability as part of QTV, but she got her start in AEW as a wrestler on Dark.
Cameron trained at Flatbacks, but didn't get many reps on the independent scene due to not having a green card.
Speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Cameron discussed how she got started at AEW.
"A lot of people crap on the fact that I'm doing music, but of course you're going to showcase talent when you get the opportunity. I love wrestling. I wanted to become a wrestler and pretty much done what I wanted in music. I started training at Flatbacks and was there all the time, I just couldn't do anything because I didn't have a green card. I was waiting for it, I was in the process, but it took forever. In the interim, I started going out on the Indies, but I was scared because I had to do things for free. If you get caught, you get deported. You have to be really careful. Even though I was doing shows and not being paid for certain things, if I go through customs and they see I've done it, they can be like, 'We don't believe you, you're deported, you're never coming to America again.' I got out as much as I could on the Indies to the level that was safe. I just desperately wanted the reps and why I was consistently training, but my coaches are like, 'the Indies will be good because it will help you in front of a crowd.' 'I'm going to be okay in front of a crowd, I just want the reps and experience.' Finally, an opportunity came up and I got to do Dark. My Dark match was my second match ever, and it was against Willow. I caught a lot of hate from people who were saying, 'I'm new and it's an opportunity that's unfair.' At the end of the day, if something is given to you, do you think I'm going to turn around and go, 'No thank you, I don't want to achieve my dream,'" she said.
Cameron continued, "I got invited back a few months later, did another Dark, and when I showed up that day, they were like, 'can you cut some promos?' 'Hell yeah, let's do it.' They were like, 'You're going to come out and have an entrance.' I was like, 'What is happening?' I'm freaking out, but did the match and shortly after QT was in contact and they said they had an idea that they thought I was suitable for. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a permanent thing or what was going to happen, but I knew that if I could prove myself and get my foot in the door then hopefully I could stick around. QT went to bat for me. I had a lot of people, Billy (Gunn), (Shawn) Spears, people who knew me and believed in me. Thanks to them, I'm here."
QT Marshall, who was also on the podcast, explained how he went to bat for Cameron.
"We were in Tony's [Tony Khan] room and going over stuff and we were talking about on of the other talents, her contract was on a per-appearance was coming up and it was the perfect opportunity to throw Harley in there without it making it look like I was being selfish," he recalled. "The whole was, originally, one of the other young ladies that we were thinking about didn't want to wrestle, she just wanted to be part of the group, which was cool, but Tony was like, 'I really want someone who can wrestle and we can do mixed tags.; I said to Tony, 'what about Harley? Do you think we can put her on a weekly (deal)? She coming every week, I know she's giving up another thing because there was maybe a performance, maybe WrestleMania, a lot of big stuff that she's taking a chance on us.' He said, 'Besides the Dark stuff, I haven't really seen her wrestle and we don't use her.' I said, 'Tony, she wants to wrestle, she'll wrestle on the house show next week. She can't wrestle on the house shows because I've been telling her she can't because we have to pay her and the house shows are for salary people.' It was one of those miscommunications and he was like, 'Okay.' 'Oh, okay.'
Cameron has yet to wrestle on AEW television, but has had a steady presence in QTV and live segments.
QTV is currently feuding with The Acclaimed. The two sides will square off on Friday's episode of AEW Rampage. Fans can check out the current lineup for the show by clicking here.
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