Willow Nightingale has broke onto the national scene over the last year, first by competing in the ROH women's division and then wrestling on AEW television.
Nightingale is coming off a bout against Red Velvet on AEW Rampage that was part of the Owen Hart Women's Tournament and competed against Mercedes Martinez for the Interim ROH Women's Championship at ROH Supercard of Honor.
Speaking to Denise Salcedo or Instinct Culture, Willow discussed how her ROH Supercard of Honor appearance came together.
"It was wild. From the time I started, Ring of Honor was a goal. I had been a fan from the time I started training. Women I admired and appreciate have wrestled here. Sara Del Ray, Daizee Haze really set that groundwork for the honor in women's wrestling. honoring my craft is something that had been in my head for a long time. When I finally had the opportunity to work for Ring of Honor and Maria Kanellis, it was a dream come true. She really took charge of making sure the women were taken care of and we were being given the time to tell our stories and show the hard work we had been putting in and have the spotlight on us. When things switched over, I was like, 'I don't know what's next,' just like everyone at home. I was sitting at the table with my boyfriend watching TV when Tony Khan announced he now owns Ring of Honor. 'I don't know what this means for me.' I was waiting to see what was next. A couple weeks ahead of Supercard of Honor, he reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to do the show. 'Obviously, yes, please, thank you. Let's figure this out.' When I found out I was wrestling Mercedes, I was like, 'this could be a career making match.' That's a spotlight elevated from what I was doing before. Now, I'm wrestling Mercedes, who in my mind is a big role model. There are things I'm really happy with, there are things I wish I had gone over a little differently, which is how I feel about every match, honestly. At the end of it, I was happy with it. Even being in the ring with Mercedes, is like learning through osmosis," she said.
Willow said she would see Mercedes at seminars and would always try to pick her brain on how to improve.
When asked what the future holds for her in AEW or ROH, Willow replied, "It's looking positive. I don't have anything solid that I can tell anyone, but things are looking good. I've wrestled there and had nine matches and there were definitely moments on that journey where I was like, 'what is going on?' Moments of frustration, but especially the last couple of weeks, I've been re-affirmed, 'trust the process, keep going.' Stay on this journey folks."
Talents such as Toa Liona and Kaun have signed with AEW, but are part of the ROH roster.
Willow has also competed for IMPACT Wrestling and remains active on the independent scene.
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