AEW’s Maya World Opens Up On Facing Idol Mercedes Mone Just Weeks After Tragic Passing Of Younger Brother: ‘A Lot Of It Hasn’t Settled In For Me, Which Is Why It’s A Little Bit Easy’

AEW

AEW’s Maya World has opened up on facing her idol Mercedes Mone at Forbidden Door just weeks after the tragic passing of her younger brother.

After Sareee was forced to withdraw from the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament due to not being medically cleared, she was replaced in the first round by Maya World.

Maya World would pick up big wins over both Skye Blue and Athena on AEW television, cementing her place in the Owen Hart Tournament final at Forbidden Door this Sunday.

Maya World Opens Up On Wrestling Weeks After Passing Of Younger Brother

Maya’s victories hold extra meaning to her and fans, as she was called upon to enter the tournament just two weeks after the tragic passing of her younger brother Jatwane.

Speaking to Malcolm of the Sportster, Maya opened up on the emotional weight of wrestling the biggest matches of her career so far so soon after the tragic event.

She said:

“Yeah mentally it’s been really tough, but it’s just something that I know a lot of people are looking to me and seeing how I’m getting by, and I’m just trying to be strong for myself, for my family and for my brother because I’m doing it for him.

“A lot of it hasn’t settled in for me, which is why it’s a little bit easy. I’ve been feeling a lot of numbness, so it kind of feels like I’m on a mission and it’s full steam ahead honestly.

“So I’m just using that momentum that’s in my heart and my brain to get through these matches, and I beat my mentor and now I’m going on to face my idol.”

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Maya World Reflects On Facing Her Idol Less Than A Year Into AEW Career

Opposing Maya World at Forbidden Door is Mercedes Mone, a woman who Maya has previously cited as her inspiration in wrestling.

Maya was asked about facing off against her idol in a major pay-per-view match less than a year after signing with AEW.

She added:

“Honestly, if you told me in like January or February that I would be facing my idol at Forbidden Door as one of the main events from the Owen Tournament, if anyone told me that I would definitely not believe them.

“I haven’t even settled on, if I win on Sunday, I go to All In at Wembley. It hasn’t even settled in for me. Last year All In was in Texas and I was in the audience as one of the extras, and I never thought a year from then that I would be in this position, doing what I’m doing in this kind of fairytale scenario.

“It hasn’t even fully settled in to me that’s what my fate could be this Summer.”

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Maya World Names TNA Stars Alongside Her As ‘Next Generation’

Maya World and her tag team partner Hyan were signed to AEW back in January, with them being signed after taking up an unsigned booking on AEW television in December after Nixon Newell and Miranda Alize refused to do so.

Maya opened up on her journey to AEW, and how her friends were getting signed just months before she was, naming TNA’s Jada Stone and Maggie Lee (M By Elegance).

She said:

“When I first started on the indies one of my first goals was to make everybody know my name. It’s a delusional thing to say but that’s exactly what I wanted to do. So I did a little bit of that, then it was taking that momentum and making a name for myself so Tony Khan could notice or someone else could notice. Thank God it was Tony Khan though, of course.

“Things like that, everytime I focus on something it happens for me. It’s not divine intervention or something, I truly work for everything I’ve gotten. I wouldn’t say I’m not surprised, that sounds so bad, but I knew what I put into getting here in AEW.

“Also at the time I saw my friends getting signed around the same time, a few months before my friends Jada Stone and Maggie Lee got signed, so being another of those younger girls who are a part of the next generation was a big goal of mine.

“Thankfully we did that, even if it came in an unethical way, it happened and I’m here now, and I’m making the most of every opportunity now I’m here.”

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• Mercedes Mone
• maya world
• AEW

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