Nina Samuels is making waves across the wrestling world, with another major milestone on the horizon as she prepares for her long-awaited US debut during WrestleMania week in Las Vegas. On April 17th, she will defend her PROGRESS Women’s World Championship in a triple threat match against Vert Vixen and Rhio.
In the build-up to this huge clash, PWMania.com’s Lee Tarrier caught up with Nina to discuss her career so far—including her standout run in WWE NXT UK—and how she plans to top a career-best 2024, which saw her earn the nickname ‘Nina Ten Belts’.
Alongside the full video interview, here are some of the most notable excerpts from our conversation with Samuels.
Preparing for her US debut during PROGRESS Wrestling’s show in Las Vegas:
“I’m so, so excited. It feels wild to say, like, 11 years into my career, after all the things I’ve done, I’m actually making my US debut, which, wow, it’s which I’m so excited about.
I’ve had near misses a few times, but now I feel like everything’s worked out the way it’s supposed to be. Because if there was ever going to be a delay in me making my US debut, that delay was to facilitate me walking into Vegas and WrestleMania weekend as PROGRESS Wrestling’s Women’s World Champion.
I am delighted with how it’s turned out, and I’m so pumped to bring the Nina Samuel show to all the fans in Vegas.”
Describing the stand-out moments during a career-best run:
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint it to one specific moment. I think it’s just been a steady journey of realising who I am, realising what I bring to the table and working out how I can bring that to the table consistently every single time, so that the Nina Samuels brand is untouchable.
I think there’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into me getting to where I am, and not just with the in ring stuff, with the out of the ring stuff as well, like, you know, working on storytelling, trying to figure out a way where, even still being Nina Samuels, I can try and make each title reign in each promotion a little bit different.
PROGRESS is where I have had a lot of big moments. I think the ‘Clock Strikes Midnight’ Match with Alexxis Falcon was a big moment for both of us and a big moment for women in PROGRESS. I feel like I find it amazing that people still come up to me nearly two years later talking to me about that match. And, you know, I think the impact that we had with that, I think, was great for the women’s division, but also for us as individuals.
We then carried that on last year at Super Strong Style. We only had one women’s match on the card the whole weekend, so we had to make an impact. I feel like a lot of people came out of the weekend talking about the 4-way ladder match with me, Lizzy Evo, Kanji and Rhio.
2024 was my best year in wrestling, and my last wrestling moment of 2024 was winning the PROGRESS Women’s World Championship. And you know, given that debuted in progress back in I think, was 2017, so a long time ago. It was a long time coming but at the same time, I don’t wish it happened earlier, because I think the way it happened, how it happened, making that big impact to close out the year and snatching Rhio’s chance of becoming the longest reigning champion. I Love that for me. I’m so happy with how it all went.”
The importance of working at NXT:UK:
“I can’t explain how much I learned in NXT:UK. Everything I learned there was so valuable. I managed to create an identity for myself there, because I realised when I started that I really didn’t have one which wasn’t as apparent to me when I was on the independent scene, going from promotion to promotion.
But when you see yourself in that TV episodic format, you really see who is a prominent presence, who is a character, and who isn’t. And to start with, I wasn’t, I had to figure that out. I did that at the Performance Center where I learned so much. I learned how best to portray a character, I got better in the ring and it’s where I defined my character and the Nina Samuels show, which got so much bigger than I thought it could ever be.
I can’t lie how much that’s helped me coming out of there, because, you know, it’s boosted my name. It’s got me opportunities I maybe wouldn’t have done if I didn’t have that NXT UK name behind me. And I love hearing how many fans connected with the product, especially during lockdown, where many say it was a big saviour for them.
I love I can go round the world, meeting fans and hearing what they connected with, hearing what some of their favourite Nina Samuels show were, even sometimes having fans come and do the Nina savage show poses and stuff. I was able to main event a show with Toni Storm, who I love and who is amazing. I learned so much and it’s made me who I am today.”
Her approach to the Triple Threat title defence vs Vert Vixen and Rhio:
“People thought I was silly to turn this from a singles match into a triple threat, but this triple threat is actually going to play to my strengths. I just need them to go at each other. They are two strong, badass women, and I know they’re going to tear each other apart and pick up the pieces, which I’m confident I can do.
And you know what, it will shut up some of the haters when I walk out as champion amongst two of the baddest women. I will have the championship and all these haters won’t. The fans, the rest of the roster. They don’t have anything.
I 100% intend on walking away from Vegas as champion.”
PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 179: PROGRESS Las Vegas takes place on Thursday, April 17th at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time). Watch on Triller Plus or purchase your ticket for the event here.
