Julia Hart wanted to wait until she was fully healthy.
Hart missed several months of 2024 with a shoulder injury, as she was sidelined after she lost the TBS Championship to Willow Nightingale at AEW Dynasty. She was then absent until she started appearing in vignettes in November, which led into her return at AEW Collision: Winter is Coming. Hart then returned to the ring at AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen.
Speaking with Denise Salcedo for Instinct Culture, Julia Hart was asked to discuss her recovery from the injury.
“I tore my labrum in my right shoulder. That was the injury. Had surgery, and then recovery was about three-ish months, and then I was pretty good for about three months. At the end of September, I could have technically came back if I wanted to, but it was just better that I wait and I make sure that I’m 1,000% ready to come back in the ring, especially because I’ve never been out with injury before, and I was like, oh gosh, I’ve never…that’s never happened to me, so I wonder what it’s like coming back. Then I get to work with Jamie Hayter as the first person coming back, who’s an amazing opponent and super hard-hitting, and I was like, this is gonna be really intense, especially for my first match back. So just really preparing, getting in the ring as much as I could, working out as much as I could, doing cardio leading into the match and getting ready," Hart said.
When asked to detail her mindset while she was dealing with the injury, Hart said that she took it as a sign to slow down and appreciate her journey up to that point. She also praised Willow Nightingale and noted that it was her time to shine.
“Yeah, [it was my] first injury in wrestling, so I guess I kind of just took it as, ‘This is the universe telling me to slow down for a second and appreciate everything that’s happened in the past couple years, with my character changing, crazy, with me climbing up the ladder and getting the TBS Championship, so it was just kind of like, take a moment, breathe, and then also letting the next person have their moment as well when Willow took the belt from me, letting her have her moment too. She’s such a great performer and a great wrestler, so she needs that too. So it’s just more like, just slow down. I think that’s all it really was, and just appreciating everything," Hart said.
Click here to see what Julia Hart had to say about Malakai Black reportedly finishing up with AEW.
Check out Hart's comments about the inspiration for her character here.
Hart recently expressed her interest in facing Mercedes Mone. Click here to see what she had to say.
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