Thea Hail reflects on her road to joining WWE and credits Thunder Rosa for being a big part of it.
At 18 years old, Thea Hail faced Thunder Rosa at an AEW Dark taping in September 2021. Shortly thereafter, Hail was invited to a tryout at the WWE Performance Center in December.
Speaking with Antonio Rossetti for Pittsburgh City Paper, Thea Hail reflected on having a dark match with AEW, and she noted that Rosa helped her get in contact with a WWE recruiter. She went on to detail her tryout.
“I ended up landing a dark [non-televised] match for AEW after having a seminar with QT Marshall,” Thea Hail said. “I wrestled Thunder Rosa, and she got me in contact with a recruiter from WWE.”
“That was the first time I was by myself for that long and in a hotel,” she tells CP. “I was 18. I barely could check into the hotel … It was very crazy for me, but the coaches were just so encouraging. I think we have the best set of coaches ever here. But it was such a cool atmosphere, because we had a mix of indie workers and athletes, and I think each person brought a different energy to that building.”
Thea Hail On NXT Title Match
Now, Thea Hail has become one of the brightest stars in NXT’s women’s division. She will challenge NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez for the title at NXT Great American Bash on July 30.
“Coming from competitive sports and everything, you want to win,” Hail said. “You want to win. You have that competitive edge, you want to be able to say, ‘hey, I did that,’and I think I get underestimated when it comes to this sometimes. ‘Oh, you’re younger, you’re shorter, you’re smaller.’ Yeah, but I put the work in, I put the heart in.”
WrestleZone will have coverage of NXT as it airs on July 30.
