Former WWE star Bea Priestley appeared on the That Sweet Pop podcast to discuss various topics, including how AEW had offered a contract to WWE star Piper Niven in 2018. However, Niven had already signed with NXT UK at that time.
Priestley said, “I got picked up with AEW because there was a British tour over Christmas in 2018. I think it was called Fight Forever. I don’t think the company exists anymore. They had me on it, Piper was on it, and Cody and Brandi were on it. So was Kip Sabian. Basically, I had a match with brandi and Cody [Rhodes] loved it. Brandi [Rhodes] was really happy. Piper, the same thing, had a match with Brandi and they were really happy.”
She continued, “They basically offer me, Kip, and Piper a contract. Piper had already signed with NXT UK. She couldn’t do it, but Kip was like, ‘Yes, I want to move to America.’ I was like, ‘I still want to do Japan.’ [AEW] hadn’t started at that point and I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t want to jump, no pun intended, all in, to something where I’m not technically sure what I’m getting into. They were like, ‘Do you want a part-time deal? You can still work full-time STARDOM.’ I was like, ‘Perfect.’”
On opting to sign with AEW:
“It was per match appearance until Kenny (Omega), who has always been a good mentor for me. I think he’s always liked how dedicated I am to Japan and that I mix the Joshi and Western style a little bit. Kenny sat me down. Christopher Daniels tried to talk to me about signing full-time with AEW. This was September-October 2019, and I explained, ‘I don’t mean any disrespect.’ I was champion in STARDOM at the time as well. ‘I want to dedicate a lot of my time in STARDOM. I don’t want to up and go because you guys are after me and offered me a contract.’ [Daniels] was like, ‘Okay.’ A week later, Kenny talked to me and was like, ‘You can still work full-time STARDOM.”
Priestley added, “We also want you full-time here. We’re not going to (conflict with) STARDOM dates, STARDOM can come first. We just want to have you when it fits your STARDOM schedule.’ Essentially, what I was already doing, but getting paid on a contract basis and not a per match one, which was great because COVID happened and I was still getting income for a few months.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
