AEW Star Fires Back After Rumours Of Backstage Heat Emerge

All is well in AEW.

On the February 19 edition of Dynamite, Megan Bayne defeated Kris Statlander before being joined in the ring by Penelope Ford to continue the punishment.

However, help was at hand for Statlander as Thunder Rosa rushed to the ring with a steel chair in hand. But as she neared the ring, Bayne and Ford appeared unbothered by her impending arrival and simply stood watching. When they were joined by Rosa, no one seemed to know what was supposed to happen next, and Rosa half swung the chair at her rivals, but noticeably pulled back at the last second.

The awkward segment eventually came to an end when Bayne and Ford left the ring.

It was reported in the days after the show by Fightful Select that the awkward run-in was put down to a miscommunication between a coach or producer and the talent involved. The report added that the talent had no issue with working together and the incident had been discussed backstage.

Thunder Rosa Addresses AEW Dynamite Segment

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Thunder Rosa has now given her side of the story, admitting things didn’t go to plan. The former Women’s Champion explained that she didn’t want to swing the chair and connect with Bayne or Ford if they weren’t expecting it, instead choosing to be as safe as possible.

“The takeaways that I will have to say, as a performer, is always ask questions. Be sure of what you’re doing in the segment. The segment didn’t go the way that we wanted it to, and it showed. But again, I love what I do, I love my job. Wrestling is my passion, wrestling has fed my family, wrestling has given me an opportunity to be here, to create Mission Pro, Sabotage Wrestling…

So I just want to say that people depend on me, my family, my son, my parents, the people that work for me, nonprofit organizations, I advocate for, always, for safety first. And I honestly couldn’t justify swinging the chair at the moment, because it was not safe in the moment.”

Rosa went on to reiterate that there was no heat between the trio, confirming that they all discussed the incident backstage and put it to bed.

“There is no drama, we were all talking…we were all talking and praising each other. We’re trying to be as positive as possible…like, I’m telling you, I enjoy coming to work. And I’m not the only one. There are a lot of girls, they come and do the work. Statlander, she was so supportive and nice. And we were all sitting and talking and everything, and went over the stuff, receiving feedback.

And I’m telling you, it was a positive thing. There’s nobody trying to kill each other. None of that stuff. There’s no point. Again, it’s like ‘How are we going to grow if we’re fighting?’ Mistakes are made. It happened. We have to grow, and we talked, and it was fine.”

During an interview back in January, Thunder Rosa admitted she wasn’t “mentally ready” to win the AEW Women’s World Title. The star won the gold in March 2022 but claimed she wasn’t prepared for everything that came with being at the forefront of the women’s division.

Rosa was forced into a lengthy hiatus in August of that year and eventually gave up the Women’s Championship, a situation that was shrouded in controversy. Despite claims from some that Rosa wasn’t really injured, she didn’t return to the ring until December 2023.

H/t to Wrestling Inc