Tag: thekla

AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla says that she’s not as influenced by wrestling history as other wrestlers.

During a recent interview with The Uncrowned, Thekla said she believes drawing influence from outside wrestling has given her an advantage.

“Confidence can come and go, that’s part of the journey,” she said. “But one of my biggest accomplishments is getting to a point where I can say, ‘I’m that good,’ and actually believe it. That started about a year or two ago in Japan. During my AEW debut period, I didn’t compare myself to anyone else. I just did me. That’s what you have to do to be great — enjoy it, be yourself and have fun.”

Thekla said she wasn’t exposed to wrestling much growing up in Austria, which she says gave her the “freedom to start from scratch.”

“I think I have an advantage because I wasn’t constantly watching older wrestling products,” she said. “I didn’t see how people before me did it, so I’m not as influenced by the past. Not growing up with it gave me the freedom to start from scratch.

“A lot of people draw from wrestling history. I draw from everything.”

Earlier in the interview, Thekla said she tried other creative avenues before finding that she could combine all of her interests into wrestling.

“I tried everything: Drawing comics, playing guitar, being in a band, fashion, photography. I’d get obsessed for a few months, then move on,” she said. “When I started wrestling, it clicked early that all those creative passions could be combined into this universal art form called pro wrestling.”

Thekla’s comments come less than a year into her AEW run, which culminated in her becoming the 11th wrestler in history to win the AEW Women’s World Championship. She made her in-ring AEW debut at Fyter Fest last June.

Prior to starting with AEW last year, Thekla wrestled in Japan, first for Ice Ribbon before making her Stardom debut in 2021. She’s 9–2 in AEW one-on-one matches since debuting with the promotion, with her only losses coming to Statlander and Jamie Hayter.

Her full interview with The Uncrowned is available here.

Thekla says she told her friends when AEW first started that it was likely where she would eventually end up.

Thekla will challenge Kris Statlander for the AEW Women’s World Championship in a Strap Match on tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Ontario, California. She recently appeared as a guest on Talk Is Jericho, where she told host Chris Jericho what it is about AEW that appeals to her.

Thekla said:

“I had always told my friends back when AEW first started, I was like, ‘Hey guys, just so you know, this is where I’m going to be at some point. So just heads up.’ So then my cocky attitude kind of led me also to be like, you gotta follow up on that one.”

“When I first started watching WWE and learning about how things are done over there, I think generally I didn’t love the idea of having to not (do) things my way. Everybody knows that you gotta drop your name and have to do whatever somebody tells you. I’m not great with authority.

“When AEW started, I thought, okay, something new. I love a good underdog. And I just liked the melting pot of people who started there. It just had more of a punk feel and more of a fresh feel. I was like, that’s probably a good place for me at some point. I was super green at the time still. It was a far future type of thing. But I just had a good feeling about it.”

She was later asked about her thoughts on AEW President Tony Khan and responded:

“I think Tony’s great. I think he’s a f—ing saint. He’s doing something that hasn’t been done before, and he’s taking care of so many people, and he’s doing it all by himself.”

Asked about her team with Julia Hart and Skye Blue, The Triangle of Madness, Thekla said:

“Julia and Skye are phenomenal. Skye is, especially since we’ve worked together, I’ve been watching her stuff more. She’s getting so vicious, just kicking people straight in the face.

And Julia is just crazy when it comes to aura. She knows how to command a room and she’s one of the most creative people I know. Backstage, we’re just vibing.”

In May 2025, reports surfaced that Thekla had signed with AEW following an angle in which she was fired from Stardom. She made her AEW debut on the June 4 edition of Collision, defeating Lady Frost.

Thekla unsuccessfully challenged Kris Statlander for the AEW Women’s World Championship on the January 28 edition of Dynamite, but was later granted a rematch after Statlander agreed to give her one if Thekla promised that the Sisters of Sin would not interfere in the Babes of Wrath’s AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship defense against MegaBad.

Thekla’s full appearance on Talk Is Jericho is available below:

Thekla opened up about her AEW run thus far during a recent interview with VICE.

The 32-year-old from Vienna, Austria will challenge Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW All Out in a four-way match with Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander. She debuted for the company in June and has steadily moved up the card leading to her first title shot on Saturday.

Thekla said:

 “I have confidence. When you let go and you still keep on working and being positive and showing up and showing out, that’s when opportunity comes knocking like a motherf**ker. I try to not get too excited about it either. I’m very excited about having that match, but I try not to think about, “Oh, I’m in the main event picture now, I made it!”

“I’m very excitable. I’ve been in places where I started to believe that wrestling is real. Almost like a method actor that just f**king loses herself in her role. That’s happened to me before in Japan, and it was very scary. So I just try to protect myself from reading comments online or people raving. I’m just me, I’m just a crazy girl from Austria who ended up here now. I’m just trying to have fun and bring that gold home.”

Earlier in the interview, Thekla discussed her alliance with Skye Blue and Julia Hart as The Triangle of Madness. Thekla says Blue and Hart were already clicking when she joined up with them, and she even teased some new members could be added to the group at some point.

“I think Madness has huge potential to be a big thing, and to actually mix some s**t up. I think for now we’re the triangle, which I think is cool. There’s still something to maybe changing up the shapes, if you know what I mean.”

Thekla also spoke about bringing an unorthodox style to AEW and trying to create something that fans haven’t seen yet. She continued:

“I feel like my style is very unorthodox, and it’s a mix of everything. I did a lot of underground s**t back in Europe; very technical stuff. And then in Japan, I just put the cherry on top. It’s not too hard [the transition from Japan to the U.S.]. It feels very natural in America. I feel like in AEW I can take all of these things that I’ve learned and create something that people haven’t seen yet. So, I think it’s working very well if you ask me.”

Thekla also discussed her time in Stardom, interacting with fans and more. Her full interview with VICE is available here.