During her WWE tryout in 2019 at a WWE Performance Center in Enfield, England, AEW wrestler Mariah May received valuable advice from a former WWE trainer.
Appearing on the Talk Is Jericho podcast (via Wrestling Inc.), May revealed that she had three matches and was called for a tryout, initially assuming it was for WWE but realizing it was for NXT UK. “Whereas WWE, I would have signed to that early on because there’s a PC and you’re going to train and stuff,” May said.
During the tryout, Sarah Stock advised her to travel more for experience. Despite WWE’s prior knowledge of her, NXT UK didn’t have a full-time training center, prompting them to recommend gaining more experience through travel due to less frequent training sessions.
“They wanted me to get more experience because with NXT UK, they didn’t have a full-time PC,” she explained. “It was like once every two months or something.”
Following the tryout, Mariah May went on a journey through the independent circuit in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She made appearances in promotions like Revolution Pro Wrestling, Ultimate Pro Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, and several others.
However, her big breakthrough came when she debuted in Japan at World Wonder Ring Stardom in 2022. In this stint, she appeared alongside renowned figures like Mina Shirakawa and Unagi Sayaka. She also played a pivotal role in establishing the Club Venus stable, joining forces with Shirakawa and Xia Brookside. During her tenure, she won the Goddess of Stardom titles alongside Shirakawa. Her association with Stardom ended in September 2023.
Following her Stardom stint, May transitioned to the United States and joined AEW. Her signing was officially revealed on the November 8, 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite. In a segment backstage with RJ City, she was introduced as a passionate fan of Toni Storm, expressing her eagerness to meet her idol. She cited this as her primary motivation for joining AEW.
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