Ashley Vox wants to be Elite, but she’s not looking to join any other “esteemed” groups like the Scrunchie Squad.
Vox recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard ahead of Limitless Wrestling’s “Double Vision” on March 19. The event will see Vox will face off with Becca, who wants to her to join the “Scrunchie Squad”. While she doesn’t have any plans to join the Squad, Vox does have plans to stay on path to the Limitless Championship, a title that has become a stepping stone of sorts for talent on the rise. All three titleholders in Limitless history (MJF, Anthony Greene and Christian Casanova) have gone on to sign with AEW and WWE, and while Vox certainly understands the potential ramifications a title win could have on her career, she isn’t ready to leave New England behind just yet.
“My goal for Limitless has always been the main title, but with [her sister, Delmi Exo of Sea Stars] just trying to form a tag team at Limitless, I think my goal is to kinda go with that. I hope that we can get some tag titles for Limitless Wrestling and get more tag teams involved, too. As far as WWE [being an ultimate goal], I wouldn’t say that’s like my goal. I work at a brewery in Massachusetts named Trillium and I’m really happy being there. I don’t want to move to Florida,” Vox explained, “and I’m just happy where I’m at. And if I get signed, I would hope that it would be with AEW because I just love the environment there.”
In recent months, Vox has appeared in tag team action on IMPACT Wrestling programming and in singles action on AEW Dark. Despite it not being her first appearance in IMPACT [she worked a May 2019 taping in Philadelphia], she says the tag team run definitely gave her a lot of exposure and this time it was a better experience because she had her sister at her side and wouldn’t mind seeing IMPACT take a page from AEW Dark’s playbook and continue offering TV time for talent on the cusp of breaking out.
“When we went for the [Knockouts] tag tournament, I felt more comfortable and I was happy that I got to be there with Delmi. Because we kinda just lean on each other. We were pretty nervous, we were very excited. I wouldn’t say we were like fully in the best mental and physical strong side because COVID and just the quarantine and barely wrestling takes away from what we always used to do every weekend,” Vox explained, “it was just wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. And then taking a huge pause and before IMPACT, we had The Collective, and it was just like two matches and then it’s like boom, IMPACT. So it was kinda like, we wanted to just like give it our all and kinda like just prove that we wanted to a part of IMPACT and all that and it would be cool if like IMPACT did something like what AEW is doing, like having dark matches for other independent wrestlers, local or who are just trying to like get exposure on TV or just like their wrestling ability. So it’d be really cool if they were to do something like that.”
“Never tell me the odds.”#AEWDark #AEWDebut @AEW @thunderrosa22 we meet again… pic.twitter.com/NxJNx5Cnq5
— ?????? ??? (@ReelCatchAV) January 4, 2021
Vox’s next test came a few weeks later against Thunder Rosa on AEW Dark. While they’ve worked together before on NWA Powerrr, Dark gave them a new challenge and Vox explained why it was great having a peer in Thunder Rosa as her first opponent on a bigger stage.
“When I found out, literally a day of, I was so happy. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, I feel so lucky that I’m able to not only work with someone that I know, but a friend. She’s so easy to talk to and we just get along, so I felt…yeah, I’m still happy with that match, and I’m glad my first match with AEW was with her, because she’s an awesome person. She’s doing a lot of good things right now.”
Noting that Powerrr’s matches were fast-paced and rushed to a point because of the format, Vox is glad they had more time to work on Dark and says it allowed her to get comfortable and appreciate it a bit more.
“I feel like at the AEW match, I definitely had just so much more time. It didn’t feel rushed, and I feel like NWA was [rushed]. And it was kind of unfair and it reminded me, kind of like back in the days when the girls had the divas matches. They were always like, you look away and it’s like oh, pin already, match is over and it’s like three minutes long. And it’s like… what? So I felt comfortable, I had more time to just think in the ring. It wasn’t like go go go, out of the ring. So it was way better, more comfortable.”
Due to the pandemic, Vox’s ring time has been limited in some ways, only having one match since the match against Thunder Rosa that aired in January. As she prepares for battle for Limitless, she says a lot of it is muscle memory but she’s working on perfecting her craft and remains focusing on taking advantage of the opportunities in front of her.
“Taking that first bump, it’s like insane because like, it’s kinda like riding a bicycle. You can run the ropes and everything just comes back to you, tucking your head, bumping the correct way, you know, doing a little bit of chain wrestling, things that you know just click into your head. But hitting that ring and hitting that mat and it’s been like three weeks or even two months,” Vox explained, “it’s a whole new thing. It’s like a wake-up call. It’s like, ‘oh, my body has to go through this’, it’s like something you’re not used to.”
“So a lot of time off from wrestling isn’t exactly bad and it isn’t exactly good. I’ve taken the time to just like kinda like step back with wrestling and figure out what me and Delmi can improve on and what we can work on in the meantime before wrestling gets back and kicks back into full gear. So I’m just trying to take advantage of it,” Vox said. “I have a home gym now. I’m eating more clean and just focusing on trying into get in the best shape that I’ve ever been in my life. So I think that’s like my main focus right now. I wanna look like a million bucks right now, get shredded.”
Limitless Wrestling airs on Friday, March 19 on IW.TV
